Since I've Been Ill, I Live Better

The Emergence of Latent Spirituality in the Biographical Pathways of Illness

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3530772
AutoresNicola Pannofino (0000-0001-6299-415X, University of Turin, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen15
Número1
Páginas90
Fecha de publicación2024-01-11
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15010090
OpenAlexW4390752519
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas66

Spirituality can be a crucial resource to draw on to make sense of critical situations that mark a turning point in individual and collective biographies. In these cases, a ritual and symbolic response to the trauma may occur, bringing to the surface a «latent spirituality», that is, a tacit propensity towards the sacred that manifests itself in unexpected ways, even in those who do not normally believe or practice, in extraordinary situations that engender fear, anomie or disorientation and that have profound existential repercussions. This article aims to investigate the latent spirituality in the face of the critical event represented by the onset of severe disease, based on the analysis of spiritual illness narratives collected in Italy through qualitative interviews with oncological patients. The narratives show how the condition of suffering can bring to light an unexpressed spirituality, consisting of the revitalization of previous traditional faith or the elaboration of an innovative lay spirituality. Data confirm how pathology constitutes a biographical fracture, accompanied by questions and needs of a religious and spiritual nature. In contrast to the prevailing approach in the medical humanities where spirituality is interpreted as a starting resource to which sufferers resort to cope toward the disease, these results indicate that the spiritual dimension is an emerging aspect along the therapeutic pathway and that it is transformed by reflecting the temporality of the biographical experience of illness

Epistemology · Existentialism · Faith · Narrative · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Spirituality · Temporality · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Medicine · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology