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" The story does what no theorem can quite do. It may not be  'like the real life' in the superficial sense; but it sets before us an image of what reality may well be like in some central region."

" in many cases, the actors were still engaged in the story, vs a quest for a cure - in imagining alternative outcomes, evaluating the potential meanings of the past and seeking treatments"

"The diverse accounts of the illness in these narratives represnet attentative plots, a telling of the story in different ways each implying a different story of efficacy and a possiblity of an alternative ending of the story."

The methods and data used to produce the findings is a random collection of narratives from vairous genders, ages, adn walks of life. The only thing they all have in common is a history of seizure disorders. The string that ties them all together allows the author to analyze how a narrative of illness can affect a diagnosis or a familial realtionship

Emergency response is not discussed in this article, however if these people had imediate attention after the intial event they had experienced they may not still be suffereing from seizure disorders.

The article has been referenced in articles that give perspectives of how culture can affect a medical diagnosis. This article was published in 1994 so it was hard to find references on the article.

The article does not have a bibliography listed, however as most of the infromation is first hand accoutns. The taking of these histories must have given the author a new perspective on his profession.

Three points from the article that I looked up was the familial relationships in middle eastern countries, how mental illness is viewed in eastern european countries, and the cultural aspects of a Turkish family.

Byron J. Good, the author of this book is currently a professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, with his research focusing on mental health services development in Asian societies, particularly in Indonesia. He has done collaborative work with the International Organization for Migration on developing mental health services in post-tsunami and post-conflict Aceh, Indonesia. More broadly, he works on the theorization of subjectivity in contemporary societies.

Byron J. Good, the author of this book is currently a professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, with his research focusing on mental health services development in Asian societies, particularly in Indonesia. He has done collaborative work with the International Organization for Migration on developing mental health services in post-tsunami and post-conflict Aceh, Indonesia. More broadly, he works on the theorization of subjectivity in contemporary societies.

The main argument is that the cultural translation of a patient’s history is a very complex and difficult process, and can almost eliminate any chance at getting to the root of the patient’s problem.

Good begins with explaining his own experiences working with patients suffering from epilepsy in Turkey, and his struggle to better understand the history of their illness

He then proceeds to give an in-detail explanation of one such patient, going into the specifics of the lack of clarity, and explaining the cultural connotation of different aspects of the patient-provided story, explaining why they might be muddled or less than accurate.

Next he looks at the work of others in the field, trying to get a better way of assessing the experiences of others and understanding their narrative without knowing everything they know.