HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

BY:- DR. LALIT SHARMAASST. PROFESSORIGIPESS, B BLOCK

VIKASPURI

E-MAIL- lalit.sharma@igipess.du.ac.in

As per “JOSPEH MATARAZZO” it is the aggregate of specific educational, specific & professional contributions, of the discipline of psychology to promotion & maintenance of heath, the prevention & treatment of illness, identification of analysis, and improvement of health care system & policy .

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

Health in terms of the absence -

◦ Objective sign that body is not functioning properly.

◦ Subjective symptoms of disease or injury, such as pain or nausea.

ILLNESS, HEALTH & WELL BEING

Health is to mean a positive state of physical, mental & social well being not simply the absence of injury or disease that continues overtime.

Major disability from illness

Symptoms of disability & average signs

Healthy lifestyle

Is illness a purely physical condition?

Does a persons mind play a role in becoming ill or well?

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Trepanation- A procedure where a hole in the skull is made with sharp stone tools presumably for superstitious reasons.

EARLY CULTURES

Hippocrates is called the father of medicine proposed a humoral theory of illness according to which body contains 4 liquids called humors(fluid).

When the mixture if these is balanced we are in a state of well being, and disease occurs when mixture turns faulty.

ANCIENT GREECE & ROME

He recommended eating is a good diet & avoiding exertions to maintain balance.

The body refers to our physical being, including skin, muscles, etc.

The mind refers to abstract process that includes our thought, perceptions and feelings.

SICKNESS WAS SEN AS GOD’S PUNISHMENT

FOR DOING EVIL THINGS.

THE MIDDLE AGES

IT means rebirth of enquiry, culture & politics in Europe.

Scholars in their research turned from being god centered to human centered.

THE RENNAISANCE & AFTER

17th century French philosopher & mathematician Rene Desecrates gave three notions-

◦First, he conceived body as a machine & described how mechanics occur.

◦Second, he proposed that mind and body communicate through pineal gland.

◦Third, he believed that animals have no soul and soul in humans leave them at death.

In 18th & 19th centuries, microscope and use of dissection began as well as field of surgery flourished after antiseptic techniques and anesthesia was introduced.

These advances coupled with continuing belief that mind and body are separate.

BIOMEDICAL MODEL

Proposes that all disease or physical disorders can be explained by-

◦ Injury.◦ Biochemical imbalance.◦ Bacterial or viral infection.

BIOMEDICAL MODEL

Model assumes that disease is an affliction of the body and is separate from the psychological and social processes of the mind.

Model has 4 characteristics-

◦Dualistic- Physical & psychological processes are separate & disease is influenced by latter.

◦Mechanistic- The body is like a foreign agent.

Reductionist- Focuses solely on the disease or physical systems and not on other factors.

Disease Oriented- Health is defined and absence of disease and rarely go behind the elimination of disease.

Some people get diseases slowly while others rather quickly?

These differences can result from –

◦ Physiological processes.◦ Exposure to harmful micro-organisms.

PERSON IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS?

Changes in people lifestyle can reduce illness- how?

Characteristics or conditions that are associated with disease or injury are called risk factors

LIFESTYLE & ILLNESS

Some risk factors are biological, eg- heritance, genes, etc.

Others are behavioral, eg- people who smoke are at higher risk.

Other risk factors are diets high in saturated fat.

Some behavioral risk factors associated with 5 leading causes of death in U.S are-

◦ Heart disease- smoking, high dietary cholesterol, obesity, etc.

◦ Cancer- smoking, lack of exercise.◦ Stroke- smoking, high cholesterol, etc.◦ COPD(chronic lung disease)◦ Accidents- alcohol, drug abuse.

I sleep 7 or 8 hours a day. I eat breakfast almost everyday. I rarely eat between meals. I am at or near appropriate weight. I don’t smoke.

WHATS YOUR LIFESTYLE?

It refers to a persons cognitive, effective or behavioral tendencies.

People with high level of positive emotions tend to live longer.

High level of anxiety, depression increases the risk of disease.

PERSONALITY & ILLNESS

Using the psychoanalytic theory FREUD proposed that these symptoms were converted from unconscious emotional conflicts. He called this condition conversion hysteria.

Psychosomatic medicine- psychoanalysts and psychiatrists.

First, its membership is inter disciplinary.

Second, it grew out of behaviorism which has 2 types of learning-

◦ Classical conditioning.◦ Operant conditioning.

BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

Behaviorism served as an important foundation for health psychology.

Joseph Matarazzo gave 4 goals of health psychology-◦ To promote & maintain health.◦ To prevent & treat illness.◦ To identify causes of illness and their correlation.◦ To analyze & improve heath care systems &

policy.

Expands the biomedical view by adding biological factors to psychological & social factors.

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

Genetic material & process by which we inherit characteristics from our parents.

Function and structure of persons physiology.

THE ROLE OF BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

Cognition is a mental activity that includes perceiving, learning, behaving, thinking, etc.

Emotion is a subjective feeling that affects and is affected by out thoughts.◦ Positive emotion- joy, affection.◦ Negative emotion- anger, sadness.

THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

As we interact with people, we affect them and they affect us.

Society affects health of individual by promoting certain values and culture.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL FACTORS

We need to understand the whole person.

Understanding health & illness.

This approach uses a biophysical model called holistic.

System is a dynamic entity.

CONCEPT OF SYSTEM

They have been classified by ‘kasi’ and ‘cobbe’ (1996) into 3 categories-

◦ Health behavior- Actions aimed at promoting health. Health habits are an important part of health

behavior. Eg- proper sleep, moderate drinking, not smoking,

regular exercise, weight control.

HEALTH RELATED BEHAVIOR

◦ Illness behavior- this category refers to behavior such as seeking advice from friends & family.

◦ Illness behavior is therefore a form of help seeking and information seeking.

Sick role behavior- deals with actions to restore and rehabilitate health. ◦ People who occupy this have rights and privileges

and in return they must fulfill certain duties. Privilege- people are not at fault when they fall ill,

individuals who are sick are excepted from their regular duties.

Obligations- people who are not feeling well must take certain duties and responsibilities. The must take steps to get well.

THANK YOU