Subjective illness concepts and problem-oriented therapy

Subjective illness concepts mean the comprehensive psychological explanations about causes and functions of actual problems by the patient. These concepts are related to basic needs and they historically arise from interactions with the social environment. In respect to the actual situation they are constructed in a new way. They aim at reorganizing the needs of the sick individual as well as monitoring his experience of being ill. Often they do not accomplish this aim because they appear to be deficient for many reasons. In the therapeutic situation the patient is confronted with the scientific theories of his therapist. Both concepts represent different perspectives of the same problem. However, both have to be discussed in a cooperative manner and ultimately result in a complementary view which we denote as 'problem definition'.