Decompensation is the functional deterioration of a previously working structure or system. Decompensation may occur due to fatigue, stress, illness, or old age. When a system is "compensated", it is able to function despite stressors or defects. Decompensation describes an inability to compensate for these deficiencies. It is a general term commonly used in medicine to describe a variety of situations.

For example, cardiac decompensation may refer to the failure of the heart to maintain adequate blood circulation, after long-standing (previously compensated) vascular disease (see heart failure).

It becomes a problem for the recovery of the person with the illness when they come to believe that their illness is what they are to other people, especially doctors and care givers, and they feel they have lost their identity.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Mead S, Copeland ME (2000). "What recovery means to us: consumers' perspectives". Community Mental Health Journal 36: 315–28. doi:10.1023/A:1001917516869. PMID 10933247. 

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