[Physicians and patients faced with chronic illness]

Chronic illness represents a real challenge in terms of overall patient care, but also an opportunity for a different kind of encounter with the patient. Moving away from the paradigm of acute disease, the medical therapeutic approach to chronic illness can be revisited with the aim of both improving the way we listen to the patient and his or her history, and maintaining a lively clinical interest in the face of disorders that are often difficult to treat over the long term. Taking an interest in patients' representations enables us to gain a finer understanding of their clinical situations, while at the same time allowing for more individualized care. Finally, the question of acceptance of illness in the broadest sense, and of a chronic disorder in particular, is a subject that should be discussed with patients.