Concepts Of Health Flashcards
Explain what health means
A positive concept that suggests well being as opposed to illness or disease. There is more than one dimension to health, physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and environmental health. Health isn’t simply the absence of disease.
Explain what ill health is
A state in which an individual is unable to function normally and without pain- can be physical or mental. Ill health may be about the presence of something negative like a disease or the absence of something positive such as adequate nutrition.
Explain what stress related illness is
Mental and physical health disorder that are a result of an atypical response to short or long term anxiety, resulting from physical, mental or emotional stress. Both acute and chronic stress can intensify morbidity from anxious disorders.
Explain what mental illness means
A collective term for all diagnosable mental health problems that became clinical ie where professional intervention and treatment is required. For example, the major psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia and manic depressive episodes. Mental illness has been linked to chemical changes in the brain which produce abnormal and often undesired behaviour.
Explain what mental health is
Not just the absence of mental illness, but a form of subjective well being. An individuals sense of being able to cope, being in control of his/her life, being able to face challenges and take on responsibility.
Explain what stress is
The response that occurs when people feel tension or think they can’t cope with the pressures in their environment eg work or family life. Stress can be a short term physical or emotional response or a longer term response resulting in physical symptoms and reduced immunity.
Explain what prejudice means
An attitude based on a prejudgment made about others which leads to discrimination. These attitudes are usually negative and are often based on ignorance or misinformed stereotypes. Eg believing that older people are less intelligent than younger people.
Explain what discrimination means
Unfair treatment based on prejudice and intolerance. Can be direct or indirect. The most visible examples are based on gender, race and sexuality. It denies an individual or group of individuals access to the same rights as everyone else, eg preventing people with disabilities accessing a cinema.
List some positive mental health characteristics
- Self confidence/ high self esteem/ ability to communicate
- Ability to be productive and have a sense of purpose at work and in relationships
- Ability to adapt to change and flexibility to learn new things
- A sense of contentment
- A zest for living and the ability to bounce back from adversity
- Ability to build and maintain relationships
- Good balance with work and leisure and rest and ability
Explain what stress related illness is
Stress related disorders can include mental and physical health disorders that are a result of an atypical response to both short and long term anxiety due to physical, mental and emotional stress. Both acute and chronic stress can intensify morbidity from anxiety disorders.
What health problems are commonly shown to worsen when chronic stress is present
Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, asthma, Alzheimers and gastro internal problems
What do you understand by the sympathetic nervous system response and what impact does this have on the release of hormones like cortisol?
The body’s fight or flight response mechanism can be short circulated chronic stress which causes the brain to fire a series of signals that causes the release of a surge of hormones including adrenaline, cortisol. Prolonged stress causes over exposure to cortisol and overtime your body becomes overworked and inflamed.
What body systems are suppressed when stressors are present?
Immune system, digestive system, circulatory system, nervous system and reproductive system
Outline how long term stress can manifest itself physically to be a significant factor in increasing the risk of a heart attack
People who have a high level of stress have a surplus of disease fighting wbc’s in their blood. The hormone cortisol that’s also released during stress changes the texture of the wbc’s causing them to attach themselves to the inner wall of the blood vessels. The result is ‘plaque’. A key marker of heart disease. It narrows the artery opening and hardens arterial walls.
List examples of common physical symptoms associated with stress which can cause illness
Headache, heart palpitations, alopecia, insomnia, sleep deprivation, fatigue
