The Hansen’s Disease Stigma: an Account of a Group Experience with Hansen’s Disease Patients

Abstract

This article is an account of Hansen’s disease patients in a group experience with the aim of examining thoroughly the issues related to the human that has this pathology. The millennial Hansen’s disease brings prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion since its emergency. For a long time these individuals were rejected by the society, family and friends and condemned to live in hardship, losing contact with the outside world to avoid contamination. The stigma set in the biblical times and nowadays it is still part of people’s fantasies. Although today the Hansen’s disease has a treatment and cure, the stigma and prejudice are still rooted in our culture, hampering the individual to face the disease and leaving serious  consequences in their personal and professional life. The reports of the feelings and life experiences presented by the participants in the group show the difficulties faced by these individuals beginning with the search for the diagnosis, its
awareness, the treatment accomplishment and after the cure, the treatment of the physical incapacities. The Hansen’s disease leave deep scars in the human beings due to the countless damages resulted from the disease. The individuals need to recover their self-esteem, their bonds and connect to reintegrate themselves into the real world. The feelings related to this pathology as fear, shame, guilt, social exclusion, rejection and rage are part of their daily life.