Feeling sick: The experience and legitimation of illness

Abstract

In interviews with a sample of laypersons about how they manage their health, we found that the way an individual feels is a prime criterion of health, illness, and recovery, as well as a feature of health interactions. In this paper, we describe the place of feeling in illness and its importance in the social organization of health care, both lay and professional. While other criteria of illness are certainly employed, the problems which the criterion of feeling poses for the social legitimation of illness permit us to begin to specify how these legitimation processes work. Based on interview data, we show that the use of feelings as a criterion generates the problem of proving that one is ill. The structure of knowledge on which physicians draw in their diagnoses is specifically suited to solving this problem of the patient. and thus provides one reason for the patient to consult or to avoid the doctor.