Health Psychology and Wellbeing Flashcards
What is the Biopsychosocial Model
- Mind and body interact
- Bio->Psycho->Social
Bio= Viruses and Bacteria
Psycho=Behaviour and Beliefs
Social = Class and Employment - Health extends beyond the concept of mere absence of disease, injury or disability
Biomedical Model
- Illness not health
- You are either ill or healthy
- Illness is caused by biological factors/malfunction
- Psychology is only a consequence of illness not a cause
What is health psychology
- The role of psychological factors in the cause, progression and consequences of both health and physical illness.
- Healthy and unhealthy behaviours (smoking)
- The role of psychology in physical illness e.g. chronic illness
- Role of psychological factors in the cause, progression and consequences of both health and physical illness
What are the Aims of Health Psychology
- Health promotion and maintenance
- Prevention and treatment of physical illness
- Etiology (causes) and correlations of health and illness
- Health policy and healthcare service delivery
Develop and test these theories as well as use them to design interventions and treatment
Why do people maintain ‘unhealthy’ habits
- Modelling
- Parental control
- Situational factors
- Peer pressure
- Social benefits
Health beliefs predict behaviour, to change behaviour we have to understand health beliefs
COM-B Model
Behaviour is as a result of an interaction between 3 different components:
- Capability - Opportunity - Motivation
Capability: psychological or physical ability to enact the behaviour
Opportunity: physical and social environment that enables behaviour
Motivation: reflective and automatic mechanisms that activate or inhibit the behaviour
What is chronic Illness
- Persists of a long period of time
- No cure but not usually life threatening
- More common with age
- Physical and psychological suffering
- Interfere with work and social functioning
What is the difference between health psychology and clinical psychology
Clinical - mental health I.e. anxiety, depression and focus on CBT, counselling
Health - physical health I.e. diet , sleep and focus on beliefs, behaviour change
Illness Anxiety Disorder
- new diagnosis, used to be called hypochondriasis
- Somatic Symptom Disorder, caused by prominent focus on somatic concerns
- Minor issues are larger illnesses and gave anxiety about this
Illness anxiety disorder - characteristics
- Affect daily activities
- Interferes with family life, relationships and work performance
- They are steal fearful even after medical evaluation and reassurance
- Disappointed when nothing is found
- Move doctors and constantly seek advice and may resist the idea that they have a psychological problem
Illness Anxiety Disorder - DSM5
- Preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness
- Somatic symptoms not present or very mild
- High level of anxiety about health
- Excessive health related behaviours performed
- Illness preoccupation present for at least 6 months
- Preoccupation is not better accounted for
- Specify how often medical care is used
Prevalence of Illness Anxiety Disorder
- 1.3% - 10%
- Similar in males and females
- Rare in children
- Onset in early to middle adulthood
- Chronic and relapsing condition
- Unclear why it occurs
Risk factors of Illness Anxiety disorder
- Triggered by environment such as life stress
- Early childhood abuse or serious childhood illness
