Navigating invisible illness: Medically unexplained symptoms and the power of narratives

People with invisible or unexplained illnesses lack an explanation for their suffering. The lack of a coherent narrative limits their capacity to make sense of their experience and inhibits their recovery.

To describe common illness narratives and how they are used by doctors and patients to make sense of symptoms. To explore how alternative narratives can be used to empower people who live with ill-defined suffering.

Medical consultations are social constructs that follow accepted rules. People describe symptoms that are supposed to drive diagnosis, and then evidence-based protocols enable cure. Diagnosis lends medical authority to a person's illness, enabling access to social goods, including healthcare resources. Without a diagnosis, people can be left without words to make sense of suffering, without community to provide support and without healthcare resources to relieve symptoms. General practitioners (GPs) can provide critical support for people living with uncertain and disabling illness.