Sick role

Question 1

What is sick role?

Answer 1

model of doctor-patient relationship

Explains the particular rights & responsibilities of those who are ill.

It positions doctors as the legitimators of illness.

states that illness is a form of temporary deviance from one’s usual social role.

Question 2

What are the 2 rights of sick patients?

Answer 2

1. The sick are not obliged to perform their normal social roles.
2. The sick are not considered responsible for their own state.

Question 3

What are the 2 responsibilities of the sick patients?

Answer 3

1. The sick are obliged to want to get well as soon as possible.
2. The sick are obliged to consult and cooperate with medical experts.

Question 4

What happens if someone fails to carry out the 2 responsibilities of the sick?

Answer 4

• The sick may forfeit
  rights associated w/ their role.
• May be considered a malingerer or a hypochondriac.
• May be seen as non-compliant.
• The non-compliant patient may be seen as responsible for his illness in a way that other patients are not, e.g. the patient who continues to smoke after bypass surgery.

Question 5

What is the main role of sick role?

Answer 5

• Control illness
• Reduce the disruptive effects on the social systems by returning the ill to good health as quickly as possible.

temporary role- all people can be admitted
- doctors are gatekeepers of the role- decide who can be admitted into sick role

Question 6

Critiques of the sick role?

Answer 6

• too much emphasis on work & productivity
• Does the model give doctor’s too much power?
• What happens if people have long term chronic conditions? - illness might not be temporary.

Question 7

What is labelling & why is it controversial within psychiatry?

Answer 7

Labelling, which is caused by giving a patient a diagnosis, has lead to controversial thoughts in the field of psychiatry:

1. “Psychiatric disease is a consequence of the labelling of primary deviance”
   -Suggests that psychiatric illnesses only exist because they have been labelled.
2. “Psychiatric illness is a consequence of the labelling of primary deviance & the resulting secondary deviance.”
   - Suggests that the second deviance is what causes the mental illness.
   - Secondary deviance refers to the changes in behaviour as a result of labelling an illness (primary deviance).
3. “Psychiatric illness can be exacerbated by labelling & secondary deviance”
   - Suggests that labelling & the second deviance leads to abnormal behaviour.

Question 8

Define stigmatising conditions?

Answer 8

Stigmatising conditions are those that set their possessors apart from ‘normal’ people & mark them as socially unacceptable or inferior beings
- e.g. being deaf, blind, amputee
- e.g. HIV, AIDS, cancer

Leads to negative evaluation about a condition or its causes w/ respect to what is considered to be socially normal & acceptable.

Question 9

Scenarios where sick role may not be applied?

Answer 9

Possible to have a medical diagnosis, but not be admitted into the ‘sick role’.

E.g. many people in Africa may suffer from constant diagnosable medical conditions e.g. malaria or malnutrition
- But their economies cannot support non-productive individuals for any length of time, they are not considered sick & must carry out their social roles.

Question 10

What is the clinical relevance of the sick role?

Answer 10

• used to explain how we treat those who are ill & how this can lead to illness behaviours
• treated as sick can help encourage an individual to go & seek medical treatment to get back to their normal roles as soon as possible
• focus on getting better w/out having to work increase chances of recovering more quickly
• helps accept the deviance & reduce judgement & negative attitude towards those unable to participate in certain aspects of society