Illness stories have been used extensively in the realms of medical social science and anthropology, initially to try to uncover patients' experiences of their relationships with doctors, more in recent times to try to understand the experience of "suffering". Most recently they have been recognized by Arthur W. Frank, Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary, in Canada, as the voice of "the illness experience" - not previously heard in its totality by the medical profession. These stories are now seen as standing alone without need for analysis or interpretation but as truths in their own right. This recognition allows illness stories to become both therapeutic and empowering for the person in the throes of a disease.
Illness stories are therapeutic for tellers who have a real opportunity to be heard and to hear themselves. As they tell and retell their story they can unravel the truth of their own experience of illness and begin to adjust to the person they have become. From this position they can begin to uncover the person they could become. Telling their story has given them the opportunity to step outside of themselves and witness who they are. This dis-identification allows new possibilities to emerge.