Whenever you hear someone is sick, your attitude towards them becomes one filled with compassion. It doesn't matter whether you know the person or not, but you immediately feel sorry for them. Even when you have a problem with someone and you get to hear they aren't well, you wish they will get better, at least until whatever problem you have with them is sorted, so as not to be seen to be taking advantage of them. You know it doesn't look good to be seen as someone cheating a sick person.

## The Sick Role

First, we have to understand what health is. Health is a state of complete well-being, that is mental, emotional and physical. We often focus only on the physical, but from here, you realize health is more than just physical. A role is is what is expected of you when you reach a specific position or status. A sick role is therefore the expectations associated with being sick.

**So what is expected of you?**

A sick person is not held responsible for the sickness. No body blames you for getting sick. Everyone who hears you are sick believes it is not your wish to be sick, so they don't hold that against you. They assume you are in an unfavorable condition, and wish to get yourself out of it. They often wish you will.

A sick person is also not responsible for performing normal duties. What ever it is that, you used to do, you are expected to take a break when you are sick. Example, a teacher with a sore throat is not expected to fulfill his normal role of teaching. He or she can cancel the class, or better still, show films as a change in the teaching plan.

A sick person is not expected to enjoy the role of being sick. You may be getting special treatments as a sick person, but that shouldn't make you want to deliberately extend the duration of the sick. If you enjoy the sickness, people tend to notice and the special treatments stop. You might not get any more special treatment when you get sick, because nobody can tell if you are really sick.

A sick person is expected to seek help to get out of the role. When you delay seeking medical attention, you are seen as not really to be sick. Society loses sympathy people who do not seek treatment when they are sick. Initially, you may receive sympathy from all, but when you make no effort to get well, people lose patience and assume you are just an attention seeker.

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#### Talcott Parsons identified the concept of the sick role in 1951