“You get old, you get breathless, and you die”: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Barnsley, UK.

► Breathlessness is considered a normal part of ageing in a town where coal mining was the dominant industry. ► A shared narrative encompasses cause and pattern of adjustment, not the “chaos narrative” seen in previous studies. ► Patients attributed their lung disease to the deleterious effects of work and were sceptical about the impact of smoking. ► If illness is commonplace its diagnosis and progression does not engender biographical disruption. ► Encouraging access and adherence to health care is more likely if that care is sensitive to social narratives.