ABSTRACT
A person who seeks the help of a psychotherapist may or may not consider himself ill. Whether he does so or not is irrelevant to the issue and would never need to be discussed were it not that the concept of illness is the subject of so much confusion and corruption that it often forces itself into the thoughts of those who need help. In health a person lives freely and is able to accomplish all those aims which lie within the boundaries of his capacity and the limitations put upon him by his environmental circumstances. Illness is the term which has come to be used to describe the state of a person whose capacity to function is in some way lessened, who cannot confront the challenges around him as adequately as before. A person may take on a sick role purposely, using whatever methods are appropriate to achieve it consciously or unconsciously, for constructive or destructive ends.
