The Grand Inquisitor;Can patients cope with the freedom to think for themselves and accept responsibility for their own treatments or do they need a Grand Inquisitor to tell them precisely what to think and what to do?

Abstract

The concept of disease is expanded from what is perceived as a purely physical entity through the broader biopsychosocial definition to the sense of disease meaning literally dis-ease or unease. The advantages and disadvantages of the different medical perceptions of disease are discussed, including the role of a doctor as priest or Grand Inquisitor, who does all the patient's thinking for him/her.