title: Patients' fantasies about physical illness.
abstract: All patients with physical illness have an underlying fantasy concerning why they became sick. This fantasy can be elicited by the consulting psychiatrist and the treating physician. The meaning of the fantasy is consistent with the psychodynamic theory of human behavior. Also, once the fantasy is understood, it can be applied in the patient's therapy.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004194:Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011570:Psychiatry; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012803:Sick Role