Learning Objectives

• Identify and compare health, illness and the sick role
• Describe stage of illness experience, normal and abnormal illness behaviour
• Detail somatisation, somatic symptoms and related disorders
• Outline the role of perception, attribution, and misattribution of illness symptoms on health and illness experience
• Apply the principles of placebo and nocebo on perceptions of health
• Identify the relationship between medical conditions and psychological conditions
• Relate the principles of social determinants of health to mental health
• Outline protective factors in mental health e.g. religion and spirituality
• Resources

Health, Illness, & the Sick Role

• what is the WHO definition of health?
• what is ‘being sick?’
• what are the rights of being sick?
• what are the obligations of being sick?
• what are some problems with the sick role?
• according to Suchman, what are the 5 stages of illness?
• according to Pilowsky, what are 2 abnormal illness behaviours?

Somatisation