2. PSYCHOLOGY AND MEDICINE

Question 1

1. Why does Psychology matter in Medicine?

Answer 1

• it tests common-sense views empirically to confirm or disconfirm them
• it goes beyond just common sense

Question 2

2. Why do people not always react according to common sense?

Answer 2

• common sense is subjective
• it is different from person to person
• this is because each person has variations in background, upbringing and values
• this then goes on to alter their version of common sense

Question 3

3. Can you provide some characteristics of Psychological Diagnosis?

Answer 3

• it involves health-seeking behaviours
• perceptions of the patient and their behaviour
• reporting systems to document these perceptions

Question 4

4. Can you provide some characteristics of Psychological Treatment?

Answer 4

• negotiation of a treatment plan between practitioner and patient
• adherence to the treatment plan
• beliefs and emotions are factors that are always respected and taken into account

Question 5

5. What formed the BioMedical Approach and what previous approach did it replace?

Answer 5

• the view that Psychology is not real Medicine led to the development and the application of the BioMedical Approach
• the BioMedical Approach replaced the BioPhysical Approach

Question 6

6. What is the Biopsychosocial approach?
   What is an example of a virus that was controlled and restrained by Social measures?

Answer 6

• this approach is limited to psychosocial effects
• an example is HIV/AIDS and COVID 19

Question 7

7. Which factors can change the way a patient reacts to treatment?

Answer 7

• psychological factors

Question 8

8. What was the medical belief at the time of Human Pre-History?

Answer 8

• the mind and the body are intertwined
• diseases result from evil spirits entering the body
• treatment consists primarily of attempts to exorcise the spirts

Question 9

9. What was the medical belief at the time of the Ancient Greeks (Hippocrates)?

Answer 9

• they were among the first to identify the role of bodily factors in health and illness
• diseases were a result of when the four circulating fluids of the body (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were out of balance
• the treatment aims to restore the balance
• psychological factors can also have an effect on one’s health

Question 10

10. What was the medical belief during the Middle Ages?

Answer 10

• disease was God’s punishment for evil doing
• the treatment/cure was aimed at driving the evil forces out of the person by torturing the body
• treatment also involved penance through prayer and good works
• the priest was viewed as a medical physician
• the Church became the guardian of all medical knowledge

Question 11

11. What happened with regards to medicine during the Renaissance time?

Answer 11

• there were advances made in medicine
• it was the invention of the microscope (in the 1600s)
• there were new sciences discovered (autopsy and cellular pathology)
• there was a huge focus on organic and cellular pathology for diagnosis

Question 12

12. What does the word Hippocrates mean?

Answer 12

• Treatments

Question 13

13. What does the BioMedical approach believe in?

Answer 13

• it believes that all diseases can be explained in terms of physiological processes
• it believes that the treatment acts on the disease and not on the person
• it does not take into account the psychological and the social factors
• it is not a holistic approach
• it believes that there is a linear progression of what is causing the disease from the pathogen to the person, not from the person to the pathogen
• the focus is strictly on the illness

Question 14

14. Who proposed the Biopsychosocial Model in 1977?

Answer 14

• Engel

Question 15

15. What is the Biopsychosocial model?

Answer 15

• it takes into account the effect of biological, psychological and social factors on the patient
• it includes factors such as ethnicity and culture
• it believes that both personal (internal) and external factors play a huge role with regards to health

Question 16

16. What are the Internal factors that the Biopsychosocial model focuses on?

Answer 16

• its focuses on Personal History
• a person’s ethnicity
• their learnt behaviours
• their genetic makeup
• their developmental processes
• their previous illnesses

Question 17

17. What do these internal factors influence?

Answer 17

• they influence psychosocial processes

Question 18

18. Name 5 examples of Psychosocial processes?

Answer 18

• lifestyle
• personality
• sociability
• perception of symptoms
• behaviour

Question 19

19. What are the 3 pillars of the Bio-psychosocial model?

Answer 19

• behaviour affects health
• it is part of the “psycho” component of this model
• the biological illness that the patient has
• this is the “bio” component of this model
• this refers strictly to the scientific aspect of health
• the social
• this focuses on the class, employment and ethnicity of the person

Question 20

20. What is behavioural medicine and what does it focus on?

Answer 20

• it is the study of factors that influences how we:

1. maintain our health
   (it focuses on health promoting behaviour)
2. prevent illness
   (it focuses on illness preventative behaviour)
3. manage illness
   (it focuses on illness self-management behaviour)

Question 21

21. What is the Dual Pathway Model?

Answer 21

• it is two broad ways in which psychological processes may influence physical health
• there is the indirect path:
  psychological processes= behaviour= affect on physical health
• there is the direct path (psychoneuroimmunology) (PNI):
  psychological processes= affect on physical health

Question 22

22. What is one of the most consistent findings from public health research when it comes to factors influencing health?

Answer 22

• social class
• people in lower social classes are more at risk of illness (morbidity) and of death (mortality) from a variety of causes
• this risk is partly due to differences in lifestyles

Question 23

23. Why is low social class so deteriorating for people’s health?

Answer 23

• they are likely to have poorer diets
• they could either be too thin to function or obese
• they have harder working and living conditions
• they are more likely to smoke as a way to alleviate the stress

Question 24

24. What is considered one of the most serious forms of cancer?

Answer 24

• choleric cancer
• about 20% of all cancer sufferers have colorectal cancer

Question 25

25. What is one of the main contributors to choleric cancer?

Answer 25

• a poor diet
• specific dietary patterns proved very harmful for the colorectal health of a patient

Question 26

26. What can be extremely helpful in reducing the risk of developing colorectal cancer?

Answer 26

• changing your life style
• changing and improving your dietary habits

Question 27

27. Why does a person with a high level of conscientiousness live longer?

Answer 27

• they are less likely to engage in risky behaviour
• they are more likely to engage in positive health behaviours

Question 28

28. How do stress and depression affect health?

Answer 28

• they are strongly implicated in a range of illnesses
• they can contribute to a person developing cardiovascular cancer
• they lower a person’s immunity and put stress on the heart

Question 29

29. Why is it crucial to look at social and psychological factors when treating a patient?

Answer 29

• these can offer more permanent treatment
• these treatments can be less drug dependent
• it provides the patient with natural control over their illness

Question 30

30. Name 9 illnesses that are related to Psychological/ Behavioural factors?

Answer 30

• heart disease
• stroke
• HIV/AIDS
• COPD
• Type II diabetes
• poor birth outcomes
• chronic pain conditions
• infectious illnesses