# Problems Coping With Own Illness

- Category: chronic
- Review status: reviewed (every claim checked against a document named on this page)
- Sources: ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) - condition scope only, no dose · Medicines adherence: involving patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence (NICE guideline CG76) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55438/ · No dose - no medicine is given for this in primary care
- Verified date: 2026-08

## Verified against

- No dose - no medicine is given for this in primary care
- Coping Mechanisms - disease-level clinical article (own-illness-problem-clinical.txt)

## Treatment metadata

- No drug therapy in primary care (Assessment & Advice)

## Complete treatment card

```text
PROBLEMS COPING WITH OWN ILLNESS
Sources: ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) - condition scope
         only, no dose · Medicines adherence: involving patients in decisions about prescribed
         medicines and supporting adherence (NICE guideline CG76) -
         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55438/ · No dose - no medicine is given for this in
         primary care
Review status: REVIEWED against No dose - no medicine is given for this in primary care, Coping
               Mechanisms - disease-level clinical article (own-illness-problem-
               clinical.txt)  (2026-08)

1. NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (ASSESSMENT & ADVICE)  [1st line]
   Adult    Covers a patient's difficulty accepting or adhering to treatment for a known illness;
            the GP addresses the underlying concerns, health beliefs, or side-effects driving poor
            adherence, since this is a counselling issue rather than one treated with a specific
            drug. - Assessment and advice
   Peds     Children follow the same pathway: assessment, explanation and follow-up. No primary-care
            medicine is implied.
   Source   No dose - no medicine is given for this in primary care
   Why      Covers a patient's difficulty accepting or adhering to treatment for a known illness;
            the GP addresses the underlying concerns, health beliefs, or side-effects driving poor
            adherence, since this is a counselling issue rather than one treated with a specific
            drug.
   Caution  No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care. The value of the consultation is
            recognition, explanation and follow-up, and referral if the red flags above appear.
            RED FLAG - Patients using maladaptive coping mechanisms (avoidance, disengagement) are
            at higher risk for health-risk behaviors such as cigarette and alcohol use.
            RED FLAG - Avoidance coping styles are correlated with underlying psychiatric disorders
            including PTSD, anxiety, and major depression, as well as more severe somatic symptoms.
            RED FLAG - Non-adherence to treatment for a serious condition such as insulin,
            antihypertensives, or antiretrovirals, risking real harm, or underlying depression or
            denial affecting illness acceptance.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.
```

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