Conceptualizing socio-emotional disablism: a duoethnography of Crohn’s disease and OCD during COVID-19

Abstract

We utilize duoethnography to help readers better understand the constitutive nature of disability in the contexts of chronic illness and mental health. By doing so, we articulate the concept of socio-emotional disablism, which expands structural and psycho-emotional theories of disablism to account for the ways socio-material interactions trigger emotion-work—the communicative labor and fatigue that accompanies negotiating our own emotions as well as the emotions of others in disabling contexts—thus limiting relational and ideological engagement with disability. We conclude by discussing what the concept of socio-emotional disablism teaches us about how to build more inclusive social futures through deeper interpersonal engagement and more sustainable public health practices.

Points of interest

• As non-apparent impairments, Crohn’s Disease and OCD carry unique stigmas.

• The unique stigmas associated with Crohn’s Disease and OCD can impact social perceptions and interactions in ways that complicate our understanding of how disablism manifests.

• The authors propose the concept of socio-emotional disablism to account for ableist microaggressions in the context of non-apparent impairment and the structural reconfigurations prompted by COVID-19.

• This study reveals how communicating experiences of disability across differences can lead to deeper understandings of disablism, which can inform more sustainable practices of inclusivity.

Keywords:

• Duoethnography
• Crohn’s disease
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• socio-emotional disablism
• structural disablism
• psycho-emotional disablism
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.