[Psychosocial management of retinitis pigmentosa patients from the viewpoint of the physician and the patient].

For patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the disease means having to adapt and adjust continuously to their visual loss, i.e., repeatedly giving up everyday activities which they are no longer capable of performing. RP patients and those around them (parents, partner, children) face a lifetime of coming to terms with the disease and coping. The ophthalmologist is confronted with a patient to whom he can offer no therapy. Rather, once the diagnosis has been established, the patient must be assisted and advised according to the development of the disease, and given the necessary support. In other words, RP is a challenge not only for the patient, but also for the ophthalmologist.