Injuries acquired after birth or caused by a trauma such as motor vehicle accidents or assaults resulting in disability can bring significant loss of identity. It requires long-term identity reconstruction. When faced with a trauma, it disrupts the life narrative of people with disabilities, and narrative storytelling can help reconstruct their identities and support mental health.
Sharing stories with others is a significant human experience. Through narrative storytelling, individuals make sense of their experiences, allowing them to create coherent life narratives. With the nature of storytelling having a beginning, middle and end, it provides a chance for people with disabilities to reflect, re-connect, re-order, and integrate their past, present, and future experiences, creating a positive identity.
Storytelling enables them to integrate their strengths and challenges, successes and losses, vulnerability and agency, and aspects of their past narratives within the new context. By narrating their stories, they have the chance to reconstruct their narratives and focus on strengths instead of the disability. This strength-based approach offers hope and belief in their ability to change.
How storytelling can support mental health
- Form of release
Talking about struggles, worries, and vulnerabilities related to a disability provides a cathartic release. It allows people with disabilities to let out their pent-up emotions about their experiences, bringing a sense of relief. Through storytelling, it helps them make sense of their experiences, creating a strength-based identity. By communicating their feelings, they also realize the support of their families and other people, allowing them to express their appreciation for their help. - Validation of experiences
Sharing experiences is more than just telling the stories of people with disabilities but it also gives them a chance to feel heard, listened to, and validated by another person. It affirms their experiences knowing that their stories are worth listening to and worth investing time, making them feel valued as a worthwhile individual. The opportunity to express and communicate their emotions gives them a sense of empowerment, relevant to reconstructing their identity. - Opportunity to self-reflect
Re-visiting their stories enables people with disabilities to reflect on their experiences, giving them opportunities to reassess the relevance of their experience and realign their goals to match the reconstruction of their identity. Repeated instances of storytelling or rereading narratives deepen their understanding of themselves and experiences, offering new learning. - Sense of productivity
Communicating the experiences of individuals with disabilities through various activities such as writing books or giving lectures cultivates their sense of productivity. The act of doing something makes them feel that they have become a catalyst of change. This sense of purpose contributes to their sense of identity. - Sense of belongingness in the community
Reaching out to others through stories of struggles, challenges, or strengths enables people with disabilities to build positive connections and relationships with others and the community, increasing a sense of belongingness. It makes them feel that they are not alone in their journey. The sense of belonging again in the community removes their post-injury feeling of being a burden because it feels like they are contributing something to society through their stories. They become a valued member of the community, fostering a positive identity. - Source of inspiration
Narrating the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities, including stories of pain, vulnerability, or hope, can be a source of inspiration for other people. They can use their journey to inspire more people and send a message that a disability does not define the totality of a person but rather it can be used as a strength to go on with life. The thought of being useful through their stories can increase their self-worth and brings a sense of inner peace, contributing to the reconstruction of their identity. Other people can also relate and learn from them, bringing positive change to their lives.
Other ways of narrating stories and experiences to support mental health
- Writing in a journal.
- Writing poems, songs, novels, or books about their experiences.
- Doing song collage wherein individuals select lyrics from other songs to create a collage of lyrics that expresses their feelings.
- Using social media platforms to share their experiences and inspire others.
- Attending speaking engagements to talk about challenges that they encountered and how they overcame their struggles.
- Participating in group therapies.
- Using communication platforms such as blogging or vlogging.
- Joining spoken poetry events.
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