Health Psychology

What is
health?
 The biomedical Model
• The biomedical model is the traditional view of Western medicine,
which defines health as the absence of disease (Papas, Belar, &
Rozensky, 2004).
• This view conceptualizes disease exclusively as a biological process
that is a almost mechanistic result of exposure to a specific pathogen, a
disease-causing organism.
• This view spurred the development of drugs and medical technology
oriented toward removing the pathogens and curing disease.
• The focus is on disease, which is traceable to a specific agent.
Removing the pathogen restores health.
• The biomedical model of disease is compatible with infectious
diseases that were the leading causes of death 100 years ago.
• However, when chronic illnesses began to replace infectious diseases
as leading causes of death, the biomedical model became inadequate
(Stone, 1987).
• So, the alternative model of health came to in light which is
biopsychosocial model, this approach to health that includes
biological, psychological, and social influences.
• This model holds that many diseases result from a combination of
factors such as genetics, physiology, social support, personal control,
stress, personality, poverty, ethnic background, and cultural beliefs.
• Which personality type is considered more prone to stress-related
illnesses like heart disease?
• A) Type A
B) Type B
C) Type C
D) Type D
• Biopsychosocial model has two advantages over biomedical
model:
• First, it incorporates not only biological conditions but also
psychological and social factors.
• Second, it views health as a positive condition.
• According to the biopsychosocial view, health is much more
than the absence of disease. A person who has no disease
condition is not sick, but this person may not be healthy
either. Because health is multidimensional, all aspects of
living—biological, psychological, and social—must be
considered.
• In 1946, the United Nations established the World Health
Organization (WHO) and wrote into the preamble of its
constitution a modern, Western definition: “Health is a state of
complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
• This broader definition of health can account for the
importance of preventive behavior in physical health.
• A healthy person is not merely somebody without current
disease or disability, but also somebody who behaves in a way
that is likely to maintain that state in the future.
• This definition clearly affirms that health is a positive state and
not just the absence of pathogens.
• Which of the following diseases is most strongly linked to smoking?
• A) Asthma
B) Lung cancer
C) Hepatitis B
D) Osteoporosis

• What is the term for illnesses that are influenced by both

psychological and physiological factors?
• A) Psychosomatic disorders
B) Autoimmune disorders
C) Genetic disorders
D) Neurological disorders
Key Points on the Historical Views of the Mind-Body
Relationship
• Prehistoric Views
• Disease was believed to be caused by evil spirits.
•Treatment involved exorcism rituals performed by shamans.
•Trephination (drilling holes in the skull) was practiced to release
spirits.
•Ancient Greek Medicine
•Shift from supernatural to biological explanations of illness.
•Humoral Theory: Health depended on the balance of four bodily
fluids—blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
•Personality traits were associated with different humors.
•Psychological factors were acknowledged but secondary to bodily
factors.
• Who is credited with developing the Humoral Theory of Personality?
• A) Sigmund Freud
B) Hippocrates
C) Wilhelm Wundt
D) B.F. Skinner
• Answer: B) Hippocrates
• In the Humoral Theory, an excess of black bile is thought to cause
which personality trait?
• A) Optimism
B) Sadness or melancholic temperament
C) Aggressiveness
D) Sociability
• Answer: B) Sadness or melancholic temperament
• A person with a choleric personality, according to the Humoral Theory,
is likely to have an excess of which bodily fluid?
• A) Black bile
B) Yellow bile
C) Blood
D) Phlegm
• Answer: B) Yellow bile
• Which bodily fluid is associated with a sanguine personality,
characterized by optimism, sociability, and high energy?
• A) Black bile
B) Yellow bile
C) Blood
D) Phlegm
• Answer: C) Blood
• According to the Humoral Theory, which humor is linked to a calm,
relaxed, and unemotional personality?
• A) Phlegm
B) Blood
C) Black bile
D) Yellow bile
• Answer: A) Phlegm
•Middle Ages
•Return to supernatural explanations for disease.
•Illness seen as God's punishment for sin.
•Treatment involved prayer, penance, and sometimes physical punishment.
•The Church controlled medical knowledge, merging healing with religious
practices.

•Renaissance and Beyond

•Scientific advances led to a shift toward biological explanations.
•The invention of the microscope and autopsy revolutionized medical
understanding.
•The humoral theory was replaced by cellular pathology.
•Medicine became laboratory-based, focusing on organic and cellular causes of
illness.
•The role of the mind in disease was largely ignored to separate medicine from
past superstitions.
Why did health Psychology Develop?
• When people are exposed to a cold virus, some get colds whereas
others do not. Why?
• Men who are married live longer than men who are not. Why?
• Women live longer than men in all countries except those in which
they are denied access to health care. But women are more disabled,
have more illnesses, and use health services more. Why?
• At the beginning of the previous century, infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis, pneumonia, and influenza were the major causes of
illness and death. Now chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer,
and diabetes are the main causes of disability and death. Why?
Health Psychology
• Health psychology is a relatively new field devoted to understanding
psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they
become ill, and how they respond when they do get ill. Health
psychologists study such issues and develop interventions to help
people stay well or get over illness.
• For example, a health psychology researcher might be interested in
why people continue to smoke even though they know that smoking
increases their risk of cancer and heart disease. Understanding this
poor health habit leads to interventions to help people stop smoking.
• Health psychology is concerned with all aspects of health and illness across the life
span. Health psychologists focus on health promotion and maintenance, which
includes such issues as how to get children to develop good health habits, how to
promote regular exercise, and how to design a media campaign to get people to
improve their diets.
• Health psychologists also study the psychological aspects of the prevention and
treatment of illness. A health psychologist might teach people in a high-stress
occupation how to manage stress effectively so that it will not adversely affect their
health.
• A health psychologist might work with people who are already ill to help them
adjust to their illness and follow their treatment regimen.
• Health psychologists also focus on the etiology and correlates of health, illness, and
dysfunction.
• What does the term “Etiology" refer to in health psychology?
• A) The study of disease prevention strategies
B) The study of the causes and origins of diseases
C) The treatment methods for chronic illnesses
D) The classification of mental disorders
• Health psychologists focus especially on the behavioral and social
factors that contribute to health, illness, and dysfunction, such as
alcohol consumption, smoking, exercise, the wearing of seat belts, and
ways of coping with stress.
• Finally, health psychologists analyse and attempt to improve the
health care system and the formulation of health policy. They study
the impact of health institutions and health professionals on people’s
behavior and develop recommendations for improving health care.
• In summary, health psychology examines the psychological and social
factors that lead to the enhancement of health, the prevention and
treatment of illness, and the evaluation and modification of health
policies that influence health care.
Feeling good is more important
than not feeling bad.