Due to a diagnosed chronic illness with ongoing impairments to daily life, those affected may develop a self- and external perception that is stigmatized as deficient, accompanied by experiences of discrimination. The desire to (re)establish a state of health considered normal is therefore all too understandable. However, as Jürgen Link points out, an uncritical orientation toward normality can lead to narrow boundaries of normality (protonormalism) and result in pressure to conform, social constraints, and further social exclusion, all of which impair the self-image and social identity of those affected. Therefore, drawing on Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu, the phenomenon of stigmatization examined by Erving Goffman must be analyzed from a power-critical perspective in order to develop health equity and a self-determined life in the sense of a flexible normalism.