The most nightmarish atrocity is that we isolate the dying & sick. Their illness becomes their “stigma” because we begin to classify them as their illness, rather than the person fighting the illness. The article “Stigma”, by Erving Goffman reveals how critical we are of people with certain illnesses. We should not pity people for having an illness, neither should we reject them because they are different, but instead we should treat them as our equal because they are just like us, human. Each person goes through different things and they have to come to terms with themselves and seek treatment on their own. There is a big process of dealing with an illness in addition to people improperly judging you based on your illness.
One thing I never knew about was the treatment of the elderly in nursing homes. I knew that people leave their relatives and friends in nursing homes because they may be unable to provide the proper care and attention to the elderly so they put them in a nursing home. I suspected that a nursing home would be a little town for the elderly to develop their own relationships with other elderly people but sometimes that’s not always the case. According to Leah, some elderly people feel neglected because they don’t get enough visitor and this leads to crankiness and very rude behavior. I always thought the elderly were bitter but I never thought about why. They are feeling this way because they are being rejected by people because they are getting old. This is not a good look and we should develop more relationships with elderly people. I enjoyed this unit because I enjoyed going deeper into different meanings behind death and the topics we avoid.
Raven,
ReplyDeleteI agree, "we begin to classify them as their illness, rather than the person fighting the illness." This was your best line because in a reading from class it talks about the several ways not only to the sick but anyone who is stigmatized. For the treatment of the elderly was also new to me, had no idea how harsh it can be in these institutions, facing death in a strange place that is not your home.
I like how said that we don't treat the sickness/dying people the same because they are their sickness just like Michelle had said. I agree because i know with personal experience, i have done that in the past with my sick family members. Maybe ill try it differently this time. My favorite part was when you said "We should not pity people for having an illness, neither should we reject them because they are different, but instead we should treat them as our equal because they are just like us, human." The nursing homes was something that came unexpected to me as you mentioned.
ReplyDelete