HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY:Understanding Health, Observational Learning

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Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Lesson 41

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

The branch of psychology that focuses upon the role of psychological factors in the

development and prevention of illness, in coping with disease, and in health promotion.

The branch of psychology that studies the relationship between psychological variables and

well-being of a person.

According to Brannon and Fiest (2000)

Health psychology is the branch of psychology that concerns individual behaviors and

lifestyles affecting a person's physical health.

Health psychology includes psychology's contribution to the enhancement of health, the

prevention and treatment of disease, the identification of health risk factors, the improvement

of the health care system, and the shaping of public opinion with regard to health.

A health psychologist works in the following areas:

Enhancement of health

Prevention of disease

Treatment of disease

Identification of risk factors

Improvement of the health care system

Shaping public opinion regarding health

Understanding Health

In order to understand the modern concept of health, we need to consider some questions:

How would you define health?

Who is a healthy person?

Can lifestyles be healthy and unhealthy?

According to the World Health organization (WHO):

HEALTH is " a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely

the absence of disease or infirmity".

·The modern approach towards health is more prevention - oriented rather than treatment oriented.

Emergence of Health Psychology

American Psychological Association established its Division 38, Health Psychology, in 1978.

This was the formal establishment of health psychology as a separate discipline.

Facts leading to this newer definition and approach

a. The leading causes of death today are no more infectious diseases, but lifestyle related diseases:

implying that they are preventable.

b. The escalating costs of health care have led to the realization that these costs could be controlled, even

reduced, by preventive strategies.

c. The dissatisfaction with the existing medical model has been on a constant increase.

· Dissatisfaction is primarily based on the observation that a person, even after taking proper medication

and receiving full medical care may still not be feeling healthy.

· This implies that something else may also be contributing to one's well-being. d. Research on the role

of psychological factors in health and illness:

It was observed that psychological factors have a role in physical illness.

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Also, psychological interventions are helpful in altering physiological conditions and

symptoms.

Today there is a growing consensus that health is essentially an individual responsibility '.

No community or state can give health BUT the required facilities.

No improvement in the health care system can be efficacious unless the citizens assumes

responsibility for their own well being.

Different psychological theories and models have tried to explain health related beliefs and behaviors.

· The Health-Belief Model

· The Protection Motivation Theory

· The Theory of Planned Behavior

· Self Regulatory Model

· Self Efficacy Theory

All explanations agree on one point i.e.

A person's health, as well as the feeling of being healthy, depends to a large extent, on how much control

does one feel over one's life, circumstances and health.

Health or a State of Complete Well-Being has to be earned and maintained by the Individual himself, who

must accept this Responsibility

Some Psychological Variables Affecting Health

Health Locus of Control

Who is responsible for an individual's degree of health or illness? ...The doctors, family/ friends, fate, or

the person himself?

Perceived Control

The tendency to feel or experience responsibility about the personal health related acts and behaviors, as

well as the ability to get the desired outcomes.

Self Perceptions of Wellness

The individual's personal feeling and evaluation of experiencing well-being, especially in comparison with

others. ·Wellness dimensions include; emotional, intellectual, physical, social, spiritual, and general

dimensions.

Learned Helplessness

Proposed by Martin Seligman.

It is a belief that one has no control over the environment.

People conclude that unpleasant or aversive stimuli cannot be controlled.

This pattern becomes so ingrained that they do not try to remedy the aversive circumstances even if they

actually can exert some influence.

Health and Principles of Behavior Change

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

Observational learning

Classical conditioning

Many health-related behaviors are a result of classical conditioning:

Fear of going to a doctor or dentist

Fear of surgical procedures

Fear of swallowing medicine

Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa: Fear of gaining weight after eating even in small amounts.

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Operant conditioning

A number of health-related behaviors depend on operant conditioning:

Children tend to over-eat when mothers encourage them for eating.

Teenagers may begin drug abuse or smoking when peers dare them to try a drug or a cigarette.

Many people exercise regularly because others appreciate their physical fitness.

Observational Learning

Drug addiction usually results from observational learning.

People whose peer's exercise regularly tend to indulge in regular exercise.

Children may go for surgical procedures without fear if they observe other children doing the

same.

Stress, Health, and Illness

Stress is the response of an organism to events that are threatening or challenging.

STRESSORS: circumstances that produce threats to our well-being (e.g. death of a loved one,

marriage, exams, illness).

Uplifts: Minor positive events that make one feel good e.g. seeing an old friend, feeling healthy,

completing a task.

Daily Hassles are also a source of stress.

The Nature of Stressors

There are three general classes of events that can be seen as stressful:

A. Cataclysmic Events

B. Personal Stressors

C. Background Stressors

A. Cataclysmic Events

Strong stressors that occur suddenly affecting many people at once e.g., natural disasters.

Once they are over people can look forward to the future, knowing that the worst is behind them.

But at times the victims may experience POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER i.e.,

Re -experiencing the original stress event and associated feelings in flashbacks or dreams

B. Personal Stressors

·Major life events that have immediate negative consequences, which generally fade with time (e.g. death of

a loved one, loss of job, broken love affair).

C. Background Stressors

Daily hassles causing minor irritations but have no long-term ill effects unless they continue or are

compounded by other stressful

Manifestations of Stress

A. Psychological: tension, anxiety, depression, and helplessness.

B. Physiological: Psychosomatic disorders i.e., medical problems caused by an interaction of emotional,

psychological, and physical difficulties (allergies, aches and pains, flu).

Impact of Stress

a. Direct Physiological Effects

High blood pressure

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Decreased functioning of the immune system

Elevated hormonal activity

Psycho physiological conditions

b. Harmful Behaviors

Increased unhealthy behaviors e.g. smoking, alcoholism, and/or drug abuse

Poor nutrition

Sleep disturbances.

c. Indirect Health-related Behaviors:

Poor compliance with medical advice.

Delayed medical consultation and diagnosis.

Avoiding going to a doctor

Stress and Illness

Stress and Recovery from Disease

The patients' emotional response may partially determine the course of their disease.

A positive state of mind has been found to be associated with longevity of life.

Cancer and Stress

Research evidence supports the hypothesis that stressors have a role to play in the onset of cancer.

Smoking

Cigarette smoking has been found to be associated with stress, which in turn is associated with heart

disease, cancer, and a number of other diseases

Stress and Recovery From Disease

The patients' emotional response may partially determine the course of their disease.

A positive state of mind has been found to be associated with longevity of life.

Measuring Stress

Major life events may be used as indicators of the stress one experienced.

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale by Holmes and Rahe is one of the assessment tools that

can indicate the stress related risk that one may be facing.

Understanding Stress

General Adaptation Syndrome Model

A model explaining the course of stress. Proposed by Hans Selye.

It suggests that a person's response to stress consists of three stages:

a) Alarm and mobilization stage: a person's initial awareness of the presence of a stressor.

b) Resistance stage: coping with the stressor.

c) Exhaustion stage: failure to adapt to a stressor leading to physical, psychological, and emotional

problems.

Coping With Stress

The efforts to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate the threats that lead to stress.

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Strategies for Coping with Stress

Psychodynamic view

Defense Mechanisms: unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing its source

from themselves or others. COPING CAN BE

a. Emotion-focused

b. Problem-focused

Coping styles (hardiness) and social support play a significant role.

Practical Strategies for Coping with Stress

1. Turn threat into challenge.

2. Make a threatening situation less threatening.

3. Change your goals

4. Take physical action.

5. Preparing for stress before it happens i.e., stress inoculation.

Psychological Interventions for Helping People cope with Stress:

Relaxation techniques

Biofeedback

Behavior therapy

Cognitive therapy

Hypnosis

Meditation

Behavioral/Psychological Factors in Major Disorders and Risky BehaviorsCoronary Heart Disease

Cancer

Diabetes

AIDS

Hepatitis

Accidents

Obesity

Eating Disorders

Addictive behavior

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