Renée L. Beard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781479800117
- eISBN:
- 9781479855377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479800117.003.0009
- Subject:
- Social Work, Health and Mental Health
Drawing on symbolic interactionism and social constructionism, the final chapter reexamines the biomedicalization of memory loss and sociological illness narratives. Since there is nothing intrinsic ...
More
Drawing on symbolic interactionism and social constructionism, the final chapter reexamines the biomedicalization of memory loss and sociological illness narratives. Since there is nothing intrinsic to the feelings expressed by these respondents that necessarily and inevitably leads to a definition of forgetfulness as a disease, the chapter contemplates how our current preoccupation with memory loss and its construction as a medical problem shape experiences of Alzheimer’s, the values of society members not directly affected by the condition, and our overarching cultural views on aging. Given the central place of memory in the lives of (many) Americans in modern times, this book asks readers to consider whether or not memory loss being seen primarily (or exclusively) as a medical problem is good for seniors (with or without reports of memory loss), is good for any of us as we ourselves are aging, and is good for society at large.Less
Drawing on symbolic interactionism and social constructionism, the final chapter reexamines the biomedicalization of memory loss and sociological illness narratives. Since there is nothing intrinsic to the feelings expressed by these respondents that necessarily and inevitably leads to a definition of forgetfulness as a disease, the chapter contemplates how our current preoccupation with memory loss and its construction as a medical problem shape experiences of Alzheimer’s, the values of society members not directly affected by the condition, and our overarching cultural views on aging. Given the central place of memory in the lives of (many) Americans in modern times, this book asks readers to consider whether or not memory loss being seen primarily (or exclusively) as a medical problem is good for seniors (with or without reports of memory loss), is good for any of us as we ourselves are aging, and is good for society at large.
