['I am a Misunderstood Being on Earth' - Concept of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenic psychosis before and after psychoeducational treatment]

To determine the effects of a psychoeducational intervention on the individual concepts of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenia.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 psychoeducational program. Questions concerned terminology, diagnosis, prognosis, interventions and aetiology. A qualitative analysis of these data is presented.The terms used to describe the illness were mostly colloquial. Highly individualized and heterogeneous concepts of illness, aetiology and helpful interventions and a positive view regarding prognosis prevailed. Changes over time were limited and arbitrary.The concepts offered by professionals were adopted in a very limited way, which can be understood in the context of highly individualized ways of coping with diagnosis and illness.