FALLING OUT OF CULTURE - THE EFFECTS OF REPETITION STRAIN INJURY ON SUFFERERS ROLES AND IDENTITY

Abstract Repetition Strain Injury (RSI), a non‐specific and controversial constellation of work‐related hand, arm and neck symptoms, became endemic in Australian industry in the early 1980s. Fifty two women who worked in a telecommunications organisation and chicken processing factory and had been diagnosed as having Repetition Strain Injury were interviewed about their perceptions and experiences of the illness. Their accounts of the effects of the pain and limitation on their work, home lives and identity reveal pervasive and ramifying consequences, including unemployment, a reduced capacity to do housework, disruption to family relationships and plans for the future, financial hardship, emotional and mental distress, loss of sleep, and an erosion of self‐esteem and involvement in leisure activities. Dominant themes in the interviews are the ambiguity of the illness and uncertainty about the prognosis, the disbelief of others which marginalises sufferers and contributes to a sense of loss of 'self and integrity, and the emotive political climate in which the women are forced to renegotiate roles and adapt to the limitations which RSI places on their lives. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved