‘Spoiled identity’ in hepatitis C infection: The binary logic of despair

Hepatitis C is a potentially debilitating disease of the liver, the impact of and prognosis for which vary significantly from person to person. Although the health consequences of contracting hepatitis C are extremely diverse, becoming infected with the disease is sometimes experienced in terms of an absolute shift from healthy to sick, clean to contaminated, good to bad. In this paper, we use interview material derived from a study on hepatitis C and blood awareness to look at one rarely discussed response to diagnosis with hepatitis C: a sense of despair and absolute contamination, leading to a belief that contraction of other blood-borne viruses is of no consequence. By considering the effects of hepatitis C diagnosis in light of Goffman's theory of stigma, and by linking stigmatization to the binary logic common to thinking about infection, health and identity, we offer a starting point for designing health-promotion materials that minimize despairing responses to infection.