Καλημέρα, cougr... and well done, nickel, re: the choices.
I see malaise, when used figuratively (όπως και την παθογένεια στην μεταφορική της σημασία), as describing a weakened and ineffective state of existence (a lassitude), in which something that would have otherwise been healthy and robust, has been rendered frail and feeble (through a set of problems). So the economy can be afflicted by a set of (complex) problems, and this affliction can certainly cause (or be the cause of) suffering, pain and distress, but does this (affliction) then go on to describe the "malaise", i.e. the resultant weakened condition?
Maybe it does and I could be wrong?
Malaise (και η παθογένεια) can be the cause of suffering, and can be an affliction in this sense - but, also (and maybe more importantly), it describes the resultant weakened condition and the sense of unease about the future.
P.S.
I agree with nickel's choices. I know ill is the noun here, and probably had to be entered as such on the title, but it would obviously be used as in "ills".
I also agree with pathology - however, I still see it as a little more formal (it could be just me, but I would expect to see it on the title of a book or treatise, rather than in a (tabloid) newspaper column or news bulletin).