Style, discourse and constraint in adjustment to chronic illness.

This paper discusses the problem of adjustment to chronic illness in terms of the demands of the patient's body and the constraints of culture. Criticism is offered of explanations which reduce such adjustment to a form of functional adaptation, either to symptoms or to social expectations taken separately. The argument is made that social constraints are embodied in everyday conduct, while bodily changes are made sensible through meanings engendered within discourse. Utilising findings from a study of coronary patients and their spouses the paper describes differences between the situations of those who confront and oppose illness and those who modify their lives as they accommodate to it. A discussion is offered of the different transformations of illness experience as these relate to the role-settings of those concerned. This is used to set out a general thesis on style as a contextualisation of iilnessexperience, articulated in the co-ordination of bodily action and social categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]