Chapter 1Chapter 1What is Health Psychology?What is Health Psychology?Health Psychology: - A field devoted to understanding psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why people become ill and how they respond when they do get ill.- Relatively new field in PsychologyHealth PsychologyHealth Psychologists focus on:- Health promotion and maintenance- Prevention and treatment of illness- Etiology: The causes of illness (physical and psychologicalSpecifically, the behavioral and social factors that contribute to health, illness and dysfunction in an individual- The health care system and the formulation of health care policieshe !ind-"ody #elationship: $ "rief History%isease &as believed to be: - The result of the imbalance of blood, blac!bile, yellow bile and phlegm (Greeks - Humoral Theory) - "vil spirits entering the body#$od%s punishment for evil-doing (Middle Ages)The above beliefs included psychological as well as physiological factors as causes of illness- Advances in science loo!ed to bodily factors rather than the mind as bases for health and illness (The enaissance)he !ind-"ody #elationship: $ "rief History 'cont()Psychoanalytic Contributions:- &reud%s early wor! on conversion hysteria:- 'nconscious psychological conflictsproduce physical disturbances such as (glove anesthesia) (sudden loss of speech!hearing! or sight), tremors, muscularparalysis, and eating disorders which in turn, relieve the individual of any an*ietyassociated with the original conflict.he !ind-"ody #elationship: $ "rief History 'cont()+asically, &reud believed that once these psychological conflicts manifested into physical symptoms, the internal conflict was resolved and no longer an issue (we !now this is not accurate.&reud%s conversion hysteria theory was modified over the years into a what is currently !nown as conversion disorder. The body does react to emotional issues through physical manifestations, but the psychological issues don%t ,ust disappear.he !ind-"ody #elationship: $ "rief History 'cont()Psychoso*atic !edicine:- %unbar '1+,-.s) and $le/ander '1+0-.s):- -in!ed patterns of personality to specific illnesses- Helped shape belief that bodily disorders arecaused by emotional conflicts- Criticis*s:- .onflict and personality are not sufficient to produceillness - Restricted the range of medical problems causedby psychological and social factors he "iopsychosocial !odel"iopsychosocial !odel (current model):- Health and illness are conse/uences of the interplay of biological, psychological and social factors."io*edical !odel (old model):- All illnesses can be e*plained on the basis of biological process0 psychological and social processes are irrelevant to the disease process.he "iopsychosocial !odel 'cont()Advantages of the +iopsychosocial 1odel2- 1acrolevel processes and microlevelprocesses interact to produce a state of health or illness within a society ("ystems Theory)he "iopsychosocial !odel 'cont)(Clinical i*plications:- 3iagnosis should always consider biological,psychological and social factors in assessing an individual%s health or illness- Recommendations for treatment must e*amine all three sets of factors- The relationship between the patient and the practitioner is significant (we#ll discuss this in greater detail in chapter $)Why is the 1ield of Health Psychology 2eeded?- .hanging patterns of illness over time2- $cute %isorders (%arlier &'th (entury)- 4hort-term medical illnesses - E/a*ples: influen5a, pneumonia and diarrhea- Chronic %isorders (Around )$*' to +resent)- 4low-developing diseases (heart disease, cancer, A634.- 7ften these cannot be cured, only managed- Psychological#4ocial factors are often causesWhy is the 1ield of Health Psychology 2eeded?- Advances in technology and research2- Role of Epide*iology 'fre3uency, distribution and causes of disease) in Health Psychology- !orbidity (number of cases of a specific disease at a particular time) and !ortality (number of deaths due to a particular disease)- - "*panded health care services - Health care is the largest service industry in the '.4.Why is the 1ield of Health Psychology 2eeded 'cont()?- 6ncreased medical acceptance of psychological contributions and its need- 3emonstrated contributions to Health Psychology2- Pain management techni/ues - 1odifying bad health habits, such as smo!ing, overeating and adhering totreatment regimensWhy is the 1ield of Health Psychology 2eeded 'cont()?- 1ethodological contributions2- E/peri*ents (manipulating variables)- Correlational studies (relationship between variables)- Prospective designs (longitudinal designs--looking forward)- #etrospective research (looking back)