I am not myself: understanding illness as unhomelike being-in-the-world

The meaning of illness is individualized to each person who experiences an alteration in health. In contrast, disease is a medical term indicating a pathological change in the structure and function of the body or mind. It is a condition that has specific symptoms and boundaries.
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...

Health is a condition of the body, mind, and spirit where an individual remains free from illness. Similarly, wellness is an active state, including living a lifestyle that promotes physical, mental, and emotional health. Physical health is critical for the overall well-being and can be affected by lifestyle, activity level, diet, and behavior. The highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental and universal human right. Consider Lisa, a fifteen-year-old born with congenital...

The person's health status fluctuates continually, varying from being in good health to becoming ill and returning to being healthy. To understand the concept of illness prevention, there are two models. First, the health-illness continuum model is a graphic representation of an individual's wellness. It states that a person is considered healthy in the absence of physical disease and the presence of good emotional health.
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...

Abnormal behavior, often referred to as mental illness, results from changes in brain function that influence thought patterns, behaviors, and social interactions. Psychologists and psychiatrists typically assess abnormal behavior using three primary criteria: deviance, maladaptation, and personal distress, particularly when these traits persist over long periods.
Deviant Behavior
Deviance in behavior refers to actions or thought patterns that significantly diverge from societal norms or...

The factors influencing the health-illness continuum can be internal or external and may or may not be under conscious control. They are related to the following eight human dimensions, and each dimension is interrelated to one other.

Schizophrenia is a complex mental health disorder that can manifest with various positive symptoms, including thought, movement, and behavior disorders. These symptoms significantly disrupt cognitive and motor functions, leading to profound effects on an individual's ability to engage with the world.
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...