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Social Effects Of Being Ill

Decent Essays

Being ill can be defined as ‘not being in your normal state of health’ cited in The Open University (2014, p.43). Although being ill is often thought of as something not quite right with a person’s body, it is not only the effect being ill has on your body but also the social consequences of being ill, it affects how you ‘play a part in life around you’ (The Open University, 2014, p.51). If a person is ill, they are expected to act in a certain way, often referred to as the sick role. According to Shilling (2002) cited in The Open University (2014), the sick role has three key features. Being ill is not the individuals fault, the ill person is exempt from ordinary daily expectations and lastly the ill person must seek help from a doctor or nurse who will then help them to recover from their illness. Being ill can affect your life in a big way, it …show more content…

For example, Sam who was diagnosed with diabetes has had to change his lifestyle due to his illness, although his diabetes does not stop him from doing the same activities a person without diabetes would do it does mean he has to have a different routine and has to think ahead about things such as having his insulin when needed. Social consequences of Sam’s diabetes are, he has to plan in advance for a busy day, and this can affect his social life as some things he may be unable to do as he has to think about how his diabetes may affect him which could lead onto psychological issues. Also, society may view him differently, for example when he went into hospital due to not having his insulin and he became extremely ill, the receptionist thought that he was not being serious and thought he had drank too much alcohol when in reality he was very ill due to his diabetes, therefore his illness can have an impact on how he is viewed

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