Stories of despair: a Kierkegaardian read of suffering and selfhood in survivorship

This article examines long-term cancer survivors ’ suffering from the vantage point of selfhood and provides a philosophical interpretation of the reintegration of the self by illuminating their stories of despair through the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s seminal workThe Sickness Unto Death. The participating survivors described how the cancer experience had quaked old perceptions of self, instigating them to question the depth of their self-understanding before the cancer and who they really were. In relating to themselves, they realized the dynamic process of becoming who they are by continuing to balance opposing poles within the self. This act of relating to self revealed the limit of the autonomous self in the creation of selfhood. The article intends to illustrate how a philosophical reading of selfhood and suffering in survivorship can inform medicine and inspire models for follow-up cancer care for long-term survivors.
Source: Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research