I am Many

The Reconstruction of Self Following Acquired Brain Injury

Bibliographic Data

ID4637632
AuthorsJan M Gelech, Jan Gelech (0000-0001-9464-3960, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada,, corresponding author), Michel Desjardins (0000-0002-5684-5980, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
Year2011
Volume21
Issue1
Pages62-74
Publication date2011-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732310377454
PMID20671300
OpenAlexW2161205332
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited50

In this article we examine the construction of self following acquired brain injury from an experience-centered perspective. Life history and semistructured interview transcripts collected from four brain injury survivors were analyzed using thematic, syntactic, and deep structure analysis. Though notions of the "lost" or "shattered" self have dominated discussions of personhood in the acquired brain injury literature, we argue that this perspective is a crude representation of the postinjury experience of self, and that aspects of stability, recovery, transcendence, and moral growth are also involved in this process. We highlight the intersubjective nature of the self, and present the processes of delegitimation, invalidation, negotiation, and resistance as crucial aspects of the postinjury construction of personhood. We explore the implications of this complex process of construction of self for grief and bereavement theories, clinical practice, and professional discourse in the area of acquired brain injury

Acquired brain injury · Epistemology · Negotiation · Personhood · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Qualitative research · Self · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Traumatic brain injury · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Neuroscience · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Traumatic Brain Injury Research · Rehabilitation

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