Table 1 Description of the chronic illnesses (SZ: schizophrenia, RD: recurrent depression, MS: multiple sclerosis, RA: rheumatoid arthritis)
From: Alternative or complementary attitudes toward alternative and complementary medicines
Type of illness | Mental | SZ | “You have the feeling that your environment is hostile or threatening. You also have frequent odd perceptions, for instance hearing voices, despite that nobody is speaking around you. You also suffer from lack of motivation and tend to neglect your hygiene. This is noticed by other people rather than by yourself.” |
RD | “You experience a groundless sadness and lose your joy of life. You also notice that you lack motivation or inner impulse for your daily life activities. Your capacities to concentrate are considerably reduced (for instance when reading or watching TV)” | ||
Somatic | MS | “You suffer from a lack of (muscular) strength in your legs. This weakness waxes and wanes from day to day and is unpredictable. You also have deficits in sensitivity in particular parts of your body and you suffer from enduring impaired vision.” | |
RA | “You suffer from pain in yours joints, particularly in your knees, elbows, hands and fingers, which you feel more or less constantly. These pains are disturbing in your daily life and also at night.” | ||
Level of severity | Frequency of relapse | High | “The illness evolves with frequent episodes that occur several times per year. It has a poor prognosis and worsens if you do not adhere to your treatment appropriately.” |
Low | “The illness evolves with episodes that occur infrequently (one episode every 3 to 5 years). the illness may nevertheless worsen and have a poor prognosis, particularly if you do not adhere to your treatment appropriately.” | ||
Severity of symptoms during episodes | High | “During acute episodes, you must stay at home because of your symptoms. Also, you often have to be hospitalized for several weeks because of the severity of the symptoms.” | |
Low | “During acute episodes, you can keep dealing with your daily life activities, for instance going at work. Nevertheless, you feel that your functioning is significantly impaired.” | ||
Example of the clinical description of recurrent depression with low frequency of relapse and high severity of symptoms during episode, without the label of illness: “Imagine you suffer from a chronic illness that presents itself with the following symptoms: You experience a groundless sadness and lose your joy of life. You also notice that you lack motivation or inner impulse for your daily life activities. Your capacities to concentrate are considerably reduced (for instance when reading or watching TV). The illness evolves with episodes that occur infrequently (one episode every 3 to 5 years). the illness may nevertheless worsen and have a poor prognosis, particularly if you do not adhere to your treatment appropriately During acute episodes, you must stay at home because of your symptoms. Also, you often have to be hospitalized for several weeks because of the severity of the symptoms.” Example of the clinical description of recurrent depression with low frequency of relapse and high severity of symptoms during episode and that includes the label of illness: “Imagine you suffer from recurrent depression that presents itself with a groundless sadness and a loss of your joy of life. You also notice that you lack motivation or inner impulse for your daily life activities. Your capacities to concentrate are considerably reduced (for instance when reading or watching TV). The illness evolves with episodes that occur infrequently (one episode every 3 to 5 years). the illness may nevertheless worsen and have a poor prognosis, particularly if you do not adhere to your treatment appropriately During acute episodes, you must stay at home because of your symptoms. Also, you often have to be hospitalized for several weeks because of the severity of the symptoms.” NB: The illness description associating both low frequency of relapse and low symptoms severity was replaced in Conditions B1-B4 by the description of illness including its name, high frequency of relapse and high symptoms severity. | |||