Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now

by Gordon Livingston

Most people, of course, do not think in these terms. Preoccupied by the obvious disadvantages of their illness, they resent any implication of secondary gain. And yet, especially in cases in which people receive some form of relief from work or other responsibilities, it is hard to escape the possibility that this might play a part in reinforcing and prolonging the sick role. It is also true that the longer someone is disabled, the greater the chance that the illness will become a part of a person’s identity—the way we think of ourselves. This is a dangerous development in that those aspects of our characters that we incorporate into our sense of ourselves are subconscious and resistant to change.