Looking for “normal”: Sense making in the context of health disruption

This investigation examines perceptions of normality emerging from two distinct studies of information behavior associated with life disrupting health symptoms and theorizes the search for normality in the context of sense making theory. Study I explored the experiences of women striving to make sense of symptoms associated with menopause; Study II examined posts from two online discussion groups for people with symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. Joint data analysis demonstrates that normality was initially perceived as the absence of illness. A breakdown in perceived normality because of disruptive symptoms created gaps and discontinuities in understanding. As participants interacted with information about the experiences of health-challenged peers, socially constructed notions of normality emerged. This was internalized as a “new normal.” Findings demonstrate normality as an element of sense making that changes and develops over time, and experiential information and social contexts as central to health-related sense making. Re-establishing perceptions of normality, as experienced by health-challenged peers, was an important element of sense making. This investigation provides nuanced insight into notions of normality, extends understanding of social processes involved in sense making, and represents the first theorizing of and model development for normality within the information science and sense making literature.