"I am a misunderstood being on earth" - Concept of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenic psychosis before and after psychoeducational treatment

Objective: To determine the effects of a psychoeducational intervention on the individual concepts of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenia . Method: 27 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 were interviewed with open ended questions about their concept of illness at admission to a day hospital and after 10 weeks of attending a psychoeduc ational program. Questions concerned terminology, diagnosis, prognosis, int erventions and aetiology. A qualitative analysis of these data is presented . Results: The terms used to describe the illness were mostly colloquial. H ighly individualized and heterogeneous concepts of illness, aetiology and h elpful interventions and a positive view regarding prognosis prevailed. Cha nges over time were limited and arbitrary. Conclusions: The concepts offere d by professionals were adopted in a very limited way, which can be underst ood in the context of highly individualized ways of coping with diagnosis a nd illness.