Television illness depictions, identity, and social experience: responses to multiple sclerosis on The West Wing among people with MS.

ABSTRACT

This project contributes to our understanding of how audiences interpret televised depictions of illness by investigating responses to the depiction of multiple sclerosis (MS) on the television drama The West Wing from 1999 to 2002. The study employs qualitative methods, including a focus group, individual interviews, and the collection of electronic message board posts to investigate how people with MS interpret the dramatization of the illness. Findings are analyzed in terms of respondents' perceptions of (a) the portrayal of the physical disease, (b) the portrayal of the social dimensions of MS, and (c) the impact of this portrayal for themselves and others with the disease. The study found that participants engaged in self-comparisons with the depiction of MS within the program. These comparisons resulted in a range of reactions from individuals varying in relation with their multiple physical and social experiences with the illness. Thus, illness experience adds complexity to judgments about accuracy, meaning, and outcomes related to health depictions. Participants expressed a desire to see more symptoms depicted, and they noted concern about the identities communicated to the public about people with MS and its influence on their daily, lived experience.