నైరూప్య

Commentary on a Case Study "A Life with and beyond Cancer".

Jan Sitvast*, Guido Bogert and Ingrid Bogert

In this article we argued that patients recovering from cancer can benefit from photographs that tell their story. We used the case of Ann who recovered from breast cancer and demonstrated that being photographed and being able to determine what photographs are made helped the patient to reflect on her life with cancer, but also on her life beyond the disease. We concluded that the photographs mediated the patient’s story where otherwise words alone might not have been able to make sense of confused feelings. Photography facilitates the search for meaning. May-be the core observation in the article was the following: “Meaning giving is not only a cognitive activity, but much more an expression of vitality, as ‘having (again) a mind/fancy for’, so being able to enjoy, experience happiness and satisfaction. Remembering and becoming aware of important values in life and pleasant things to do will contribute to more resilience