Table 1.

Categories of meaning of illness.

Category	Description
1. Illness as challenge Positive	Tends to motivate healthy coping strategies. Illness is viewed as other life events that create demands and must be managed.
2. Illness as enemy Negative	Tends to anxiety, fear, and anger. There may be hostility and denial or passive surrender to disease.
3. Illness as punishment Negative	Tends to anxiety, depression, and anger, especially if punishment is viewed as unjust.
4. Illness as weakness Negative	Illness is a sign of failure and shame. May lead to denial or concealment of illness.
5. Illness as relief Negative	Allows the avoidance of demands, responsibilities, or personal crises. May tend toward malingering and hypochondria.
6. Illness as strategy Negative	Used to gain attention and concern of others.
7. Illness as irreparable loss Negative	Tends to depression, anger, and resistance to rehabilitation, and possible suicide.
8. Illness as value Positive	Belief that illness may enhance spirituality and awareness of the beauty and value of life

Note: Taken from Lipowski [10].