[Illness as a problem solving approach. Case presentation for comprehending psychosomatic illness in the elderly].

From a psychosomatical view, one's present situation in life, previous experiences of conflict and uncoped with losses play, especially in old age, an important role in the development of, the course of, and the coping with the underlying physical disease. It is shown in the example of a 68-year-old patient with bronchial asthma that sickness in old age can be understood as an effort (certainly not an optimal one) to solve the psychosocial conflicts, and as an adjustment process to altered living conditions.