A Disembodied Dementia: Graphic Medicine and Illness Narratives

The dominant discourse on dementia promotes a view that as individuals progress with the disease, they experience a neurological decline causing a loss of self. This notion, grounded in a Cartesian representation of selfhood, associates a loss of self as directly related to cognition. This paper presents an alternative anthropological framework, embodied selfhood, that challenges this representation. It then examines a potential tool, graphic medicine, to translate this theory into caregiving practice. Through analyzing three graphic novels-Wrinkles, Tangles, and Aliceheimer's-this paper demonstrates how tension exists between different conceptions of selfhood and associated implications for caregivers and patients alike.