By Madison Headen
Modern medical anthropology has presented the interesting dilemma of whether a disease and an illness should be considered equally important by medical professionals. It is a common misconception to believe that suffering from a disease and an illness is the same thing, and this misconception is one that many health professionals strive to eliminate. A disease is characterized by a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms, pathological abnormalities, and biological phenomena. An illness, contrarily, can be defined as one’s experience with a disease (or any abnormal condition) and is influenced by the way that society perceives and responds to the disease itself. One of the best historical examples that emphasize the necessity to consider an illness and a disease as concepts of equal importance is leprosy.
As a disease, leprosy is a condition that is caused by bacteria and it is transmittable to others through years of close contact. It has been regarded as highly contagious and dangerous since biblical times. However, science has proved that leprosy is not nearly as contagious as most people believe and, with the proper treatment, it can be managed. Most of the grotesque symptoms that the public associates with leprosy are only present in severe cases, and most of these symptoms can be reversed with treatment. Therefore, the hysteria associated with leprosy is not justified by science.
While the disease is treatable and mildly communicable, leprosy as an illness has completely different criteria to consider. Many people who suffer from this illness have to handle the stigmas and isolation that come with it. In many countries, they are expected to leave their homes and live a life of self-isolation. Additionally, the social expectations and perceptions of the illness cause many lepers to stigmatize themselves. Because the disease has been identified by professionals as nonthreatening, medical anthropologists have hypothesized that the stigmas associated with the illness stem from a socio-historical context.
The best way that medical anthropologists have studied the socio-historical origins of leprosy as an illness is to cross-examine the way that lepers are treated across the globe. Their findings showed that there are a large variety of factors that contribute to the stigmatization of the illness. For example, in Hawaii, lepers were associated with a particular group that society wanted to ostracize: the Chinese immigrants. In parts of Africa, leprosy was not highly despised by society until Western medical professionals intervened and sparked fear in society. In India, the forced isolation and cruelty that lepers face is believed to be the cause of remnants of caste systems. All of these examples prove that the experience of an illness is highly dependent on the expectations and stereotypes that society has produced and it is not something that should be overlooked by medical professionals. The experience associated with any illness should be regarded with the care that is equivalent to what most doctors would give to a disease.
A modern example that shows how important it is to understand the difference between an illness and a disease is COVID-19. While most people see this disease as a set of symptoms and dates for quarantining, it is important to understand that every person has a different experience with this virus and their personal experience has a profound impact on their life. The experience that each individual has with the virus can dictate many aspects of their mental health and quality of life, so it is vital that scientists begin to regard illness with equal importance as a disease in these times.
Sources:
Brown, P. J., & Closser, S. (2016). Learning to be a Leper: A Case Study in the Social Construction of Illness. In Understanding and applying medical anthropology biosocial and cultural approaches. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.