Metaphors and Medical Anthropology

We all have gone through times in our lives that we have felt empty or something was missing. This rupture puts stress on us and the way we cope with it varies in different cultures. Not only does this relate to our daily lives, but it also plays a large role in the medical field. In Gay Becker’s piece “Metaphors in Disrupted Lives: Infertility and Cultural Constructions of Continuity”, he discussed about the culturally produced responses to change due to the issues of infertility and going through medical treatment in men and women. This article made me analyze and dissect the use of metaphors in a medical setting which became a surprisingly interesting way to recover discontinuity in people’s lives. In this blog, the reader will have an understanding of Becker’s main point of the use of metaphors from his article and the relations of the image and picture I used to support his explanations from it.

We have discussed in class about metaphor’s roles according to Becker’s piece. Some of the positives of using metaphors are that it is a great channel for locating new meanings, it helps people to clear up ruptures in life and it moderates efforts to create a progression in the face of change. Continuity in our lives is culturally constructed in our society and with the use of metaphors, we can keep that duration. According to Becker from his article, he said that “[m]etaphors frame and structure and, therefore, may be highly significant in the process of attempting to reconstitute sense of self after a disruption” (Becker 384). This is a strong and reassuring statement. Metaphors are often used to describe an event or feeling in a daily conversation. It usually does not create this sense of self for people. To use this method in helping patients demonstrate that there are ways that are inexpensive and not complicated in order to assist in the healing process. It combines culture and cognitive organization that results in this rebuilding of the person.

The picture I chose shows this person lifting a missing piece of a bridge that is made of puzzle pieces. I found this so perfect for the text in Becker’s piece because it demonstrates the discontinuity in people’s lives and the missing puzzle piece represents the metaphor used to complete the rupture. It relates because people need unique ways in order to cope with a missing part of their lives. Puzzle pieces are always scattered at one point and putting them together creates this completion in not only the actual activity but this sense of accomplishment as well. Metaphors assist in creating this sense of accomplishment in continuing what has been disturbed. Not only did I think it was such a unique picture, but it works in a lot of issues in the world that always seems to be missing something. In my opinion, I feel we need to work on the things that need to be fixed before creating something new. Like the bridge in the picture, without all the pieces we would not be able to cross to other side. It’s interesting when there are so many gaps and we focus our attention to other areas that does not need to be centered on. We cannot keep building fancy handrails or complex designs on a bridge when we cannot even complete the foot pathway. This metaphor I used relates to the picture as well as hoping for what will come in our future in regards to our ways of helping people. Hopefully our world can continue finding our missing puzzle pieces to accomplish a completion of our health system.

An outside text I found came from a scholarly journal “Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World’s” by Carol and Melvin Ember. It said that “…narratives [are] a form of being as much as a way of saying, a crucial and constitutive part of the ongoing activity of the lifeworld” (Melvin 128). This relates to the picture in that it shows that the puzzle bridge’s missing piece is crucial to walking over to the other side. Without the piece in the person’s hands, one will not be able to cross over. Ember explains that metaphors and narratives both are very important that takes time to complete the process of healing. It not only helps patients, but it helps professionals keep the health system and patients in a structured and organized way. This relates to the in class text in that it reinforces the use of metaphors and the benefits of it. A way of gathering this sense of self and the demonstration of a constitutive part of medical anthropology works hand in hand to make the health part of the world go round. It may not include expensive equipment or pages of complex jargon by doctors but it does go a long way. I thought this was an interesting part of the article that I found online in relation to the metaphors mentioned in Becker’s article. They both feel that using verbal methods have a strong foundation in helping people recover from any kind of discontinuity.

Comparing all of these sources really strings what we have been learning in class together. I really liked how this caring method of using metaphors does a good job at helping a patient just as much as a prescribed medication or conducting surgery. Each has their own special way of helping the patient heal (whether it is physical, emotional or mental). Sometimes I wonder why I don’t see the use of metaphors and narratives more often. I have only seen it once when I volunteer at an occupational therapy clinic where the therapists use narratives to not only converse with patients but to also find out the background information in relation to any injuries or dysfunctional bodily movements. I really believe that this use works wonders in all health care locations and should be enforced more in order to get the “care” from healthcare.

-Cassie

Sources:

Becker, Gay. "Metaphors in Disrupted Lives: Infertility and Cultural Constructions of Continuity." Medical   Anthropology Quarterly 8.4 (1994): 383-410. Print. 

Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember. Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's Cultures. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004. Print.

Picture: http://thumbnails.illustrationsource.com/huge.0.4550.JPG