The idea of the body experiencing a disease is separate from the idea of the mind experiencing an illness according to Cartesian dualism. Another method of classifying illnesses and how they affect people is through the three bodies approach. To understand the body means to understand its normalities and this gives the ability to be able to label something as normal or abnormal. The three bodies include the individual body, the social body, and the body politic.
The individual body is how the psyche or soul relates to the physical body, how the lived self is experienced. Part of the individual body experience is placing importance on a specific body part, such as the brain in western medicine, which can be an indicator of health of the lived self experience. The brain is what controls us, forms our ideas and allows our successes. Since dementia affects the brain, there is a sort of identity loss with the illness. The person has lost their most important body tool. This is seen as quite detrimental to the patient since the brain is such a high status object. This could also be related to why elderly homes are held to very high standards of cleanliness and health codes. The patients have lost their most precious aspect and thus should be treated with tender care and respect.
A second body is the social body. This is how an individual reflects the ideologies of the culture. Traditionally in western culture the body is viewed as a machine. This can be seen in everyday life when someone says “my tank is running on empty” after they have been working all day. As I thought more about this concept of the body being a machine I started thinking about how the body does decline physically and why this has to happen. After so much running and working, the body will begin to tire and slow, similar to an older machine. It just gets worn out. The brain is the motor for the body and controls all movements and skills. In terms of dementia, the motor has malfunctioned preventing the machine from running properly.
Along with individual suffering of the illness, there is a community-felt hardship. As a loved one progresses through dementia effects are felt throughout the whole family maybe even the surrounding community if it is tight knit. The third body, the body politic, deals with integrating cultural ideologies and the health system to achieve overall community health. Generally in western culture we achieve this overall health by removing the deviant bodies to protect the healthy citizens. This fits right in with placing a dementia suffering loved one into a nursing home. The family members are too busy with their own lives to care for the ill and since they are considered a deviant body, a nursing home provides protection from the outside world.
The individual body is how the psyche or soul relates to the physical body, how the lived self is experienced. Part of the individual body experience is placing importance on a specific body part, such as the brain in western medicine, which can be an indicator of health of the lived self experience. The brain is what controls us, forms our ideas and allows our successes. Since dementia affects the brain, there is a sort of identity loss with the illness. The person has lost their most important body tool. This is seen as quite detrimental to the patient since the brain is such a high status object. This could also be related to why elderly homes are held to very high standards of cleanliness and health codes. The patients have lost their most precious aspect and thus should be treated with tender care and respect.
A second body is the social body. This is how an individual reflects the ideologies of the culture. Traditionally in western culture the body is viewed as a machine. This can be seen in everyday life when someone says “my tank is running on empty” after they have been working all day. As I thought more about this concept of the body being a machine I started thinking about how the body does decline physically and why this has to happen. After so much running and working, the body will begin to tire and slow, similar to an older machine. It just gets worn out. The brain is the motor for the body and controls all movements and skills. In terms of dementia, the motor has malfunctioned preventing the machine from running properly.
Along with individual suffering of the illness, there is a community-felt hardship. As a loved one progresses through dementia effects are felt throughout the whole family maybe even the surrounding community if it is tight knit. The third body, the body politic, deals with integrating cultural ideologies and the health system to achieve overall community health. Generally in western culture we achieve this overall health by removing the deviant bodies to protect the healthy citizens. This fits right in with placing a dementia suffering loved one into a nursing home. The family members are too busy with their own lives to care for the ill and since they are considered a deviant body, a nursing home provides protection from the outside world.