Falling upward with Parkinson’s disease

Falls can injure, even kill. No one with Parkinson’s disease (PD) wants to fall by accident. However, the potential nastiness of falls does not preclude a more nuanced understanding of the personal meaning that falls can have. Rather than view falls as a problem to fear and manage solely by preventing and repairing harm, people with PD and those who care for them may recast falls as a mixed blessing. Falls may be a resource, skill, and catalyst for personal growth. We discuss how falls may give rise to opportunities in interrelated domains: capabilities, credo, character, creativity, chronemics, and connectedness. Clinicians could incorporate a positive focus across these domains to help people with PD to ‘fall upward’ in the sense of flourish.