title: "How can I still be me?": Strategies to maintain a sense of self in the context of a neurological condition.
abstract: The Living with a Neurological Condition (LINC) study was part of the National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions conducted in Canada. This article describes empirical original qualitative data collected in the third and final phase of this study and examines how individuals living with a neurological condition maintain continuity of their sense of self, with a particular focus on their strategies. Fifteen interviews were analysed for this paper. Emerging strategies for maintaining sense of self include: (1) avoidance and denial, (2) cognitive reframing, (3) articulation of the self through imagined positive identity, (4) strategies that reconnect to identity in the past, (5) adjusting and altering goals, (6) spiritual activities, (7) humour, (8) comparison with others: identity as shaped through social constructs, and (9) creating communities: a reciprocal reflection of self.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Kerstin.Roger@umanitoba.ca.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roger
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wetzel
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Versnel
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D009864:Ontario; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chronic illness; biographical disruption; biographical flow; neurological conditions; sense of self; strategies to maintain self-concept
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