The percentage of sick people is increasing, and there are at least two reasons for this. Firstly, medicine is now better able to treat many diseases thanks to developments in medical techniques and procedures. Not so long ago, many diseases had a fatal status (malignant tumours or AIDS). However, medical developments have now reclassified many of these diseases as chronic. Patients have therefore been given the chance to live longer, but at the same time faced the challenge of struggling with incomplete health for longer. In order to make their lives better, patients themselves and those responsible for their health must therefore take care of their quality of life in illness. Despite medical advances, the propensity to develop chronic disease will also increase due to the so-called epidemiological transition, i.e. the decline of infectious diseases in favour of non-communicable diseases with a long-term course. This monograph attempts to develop a positive approach to health and illness and, in particular, attempts to theorise the possible positive phenomena associated with the process of coping with illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By definition, health psychology should focus on health maintenance. However, health is understood not only as the absence of disease, but holistically as physical, mental and social well-being (WHO, 2006). This definition of health broadens the possibilities for achieving well-being when full health cannot be maintained, as in the situation of chronic disease. This assumption has been neglected for many years by researchers of patient behaviour in the face of illness. Typically, clinical health psychology has focused on the negative consequences of being ill, mainly distress, with research intended to serve practitioners focused on preventing or correcting these negative consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This monograph is written in the vein of so-called positive clinical psychology. It is a relatively new proposition that attempts to look for connections and distinctions between processes related to suffering and the experience of well-being in life. It assumes that positive coping with the stresses of chronic illness is made possible by self-regulatory processes - these are what make patients intentionally make efforts leading to a good and happy life when challenged by illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n