ABSTRACT
Although all the diseases introduced and described in the preceding chapters have their own pattern of symptoms and prognostic character, they each present for the person with the disease a crisis of adaptation. This process of adjustment affects not only the patient, but also those who live in their personal psychosocial community. The assaults that such diseases make on the minds and bodies of those who are afflicted are profound and distressing. Much of what is written about the consequences of the diseases focuses on deficits and disabilities, and on the negative impact on caregivers and families. Yet despite the stress of coping with progressive incapacity, many caregivers and persons with the disease respond to the challenges and restructure their lives in a host of resourceful ways. In this final chapter, the focus is on the process of adaptation.
