Citation

Hofstra J. J. Med. Humanit. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Rutgers, Department of Sociology, The State University of New Jersey, 26 Nichol Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA. jhofstra@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Springer)

DOI

10.1007/s10912-018-9546-9

PMID

30623281

Abstract

People narrating the experience of dysregulated anger after a brain injury call upon metaphor in patterned ways to help them make sense of their situation. Here, I analyze the use of the metaphor of the doubled self in a personal narrative of brain injury, and I situate this metaphor in its cultural history by analyzing Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and The Incredible Hulk as landmark moments in its development. A pattern of thought reflecting Seneca's philosophy on the incompatibility of anger with rational selfhood emerges. I discuss implications for the way we care for people struggling with post-brain-injury anger.

Language: en

Keywords

Brain injury; Emotion; Identity; Metaphor; Narrative