Intimacy; Views from Impairment and Neuroscience

Intimacy usually involves the body. Its dependence on and the difficulties in transcending this are explored by discussing some of the problems those with neurological impairment have in this regard. These impairments are considered in relation to intimacy with one's own body, with others and with the world. Intimacy is also often expressed through touching, and work on the neural basis for the pleasurable aspects of touch is also given. The main part of this paper, however, consists of narratives from the experiences of those with a number of conditions. For instance an adult who has gone blind describes losing the recognition and enjoyment of his family's faces; someone with a facial visible difference describes the impossibility of physical intimacy as a result. The ways in which couples adapt to one becoming quadriplegic are explored as intimacy changes and continues. A person with hemiplegic cerebral palsy describes how one side the world is available normally, but the other side hostile, alien and unusable. Through these and other personal narratives, one of the main purposes of intimacy, maintenance of relationship, is revealed.