Introduction & Health History

Question 1

What is health psychology?

Answer 1

Health psychology studies how psychological factors affect staying healthy, getting sick, and responding to illness.

Question 2

What are objective and subjective signs of illness?

Answer 2

Objective signs are measurable (like fever), while symptoms are what a person feels (like pain).

Question 3

What is the Wellness/Illness Continuum?

Answer 3

The Wellness/Illness Continuum is a spectrum that represents an individual’s health status ranging from optimal wellness to illness.

Question 4

What are the main focuses of health psychology?

Answer 4

1. Health promotion and maintenance
2. Prevention and treatment of illness
3. Causes and factors of health and dysfunction
4. Impact of health institutions and professionals on behavior

Question 5

What were early views of the mind-body relationship?

Answer 5

Early views included beliefs that disease was caused by:
1. Evil spirits
2. God’s punishment
3. Imbalance of body’s humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm)

Question 6

What are the main factors that contribute to health status?

Answer 6

1. Behavior
2. Genetic factors
3. Medical Care
4. Other Factors

Question 7

What are the sources of disease according to supernatural or magical beliefs?

Answer 7

1. Sorcery
2. Breach of social taboo (breaking a social rule)
3. Object intrusion (a magical object enters the body)
4. Supernatural possession
   Losing one’s soul

Question 8

What are some treatments for diseases caused by supernatural or magical beliefs?

Answer 8

1. Confession and appeasing the gods
2. Magical sucking to remove harmful spirits
3. Using concoctions like animal excrement or torture
4. Trephination (drilling a hole in the skull)

Question 9

What did Hippocrates believe about the cause of disease?

Answer 9

Hippocrates believed that disease was a natural process, not caused by divine forces, and understanding this would challenge the belief they were divine.

Question 10

What is the Humoral Theory according to Hippocrates?

Answer 10

Suggests that disease occurs when the four fluids (humors) of the body—blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm—are out of balance.

Question 11

Which diseases, humor, and treatments are linked to the sanguine temperament?

Answer 11

Diseases: Angina, epilepsy
Humor: Blood
Treatment: Bloodletting (blood is drawn from a patient to balance the body’s humors)

Question 12

Which diseases, humor, and treatments are linked to the phlegmatic temperament?

Answer 12

Diseases: Cold, headaches
Humor: Phlegm
Treatment: Hot baths, warm food

Question 13

Which diseases, humor, and treatments are linked to the melancholic temperament?

Answer 13

Diseases: Hepatitis, ulcers
Humor: Black bile
Treatment: Hot baths

Question 14

Which diseases, humor, and treatments are linked to the choleric temperament?

Answer 14

Diseases: Stomach issues, jaundice
Humor: Yellow bile
Treatment: Bloodletting, liquid diet

Question 15

What are the key stages in the evolving view of diseases, and when did they emerge?

Answer 15

1. Anatomical pathology (16th-18th centuries): Disease is located in specific body parts.
2. Tissue pathology (Late 18th century): Certain tissues can be diseased while others stay healthy.
3. Cellular pathology (19th century): Cells are the key to understanding disease.
4. Germ theory: Bacteria and other unseen particles can cause disease.
5. Magic bullet: The idea that a specific cure could be found for each ailment to restore health.
6. Biopsychosocial model: Disease is caused by the interaction of mind, body, and environment.

Question 16

What are Freud’s psychoanalytic contributions regarding unconscious conflicts and physical symptoms in conversion hysteria?

Answer 16

Freud discovered that unconscious conflicts can cause physical symptoms. These symptoms represent repressed psychological issues, helping patients manage hidden emotions and reduce anxiety.

Question 17

Who are associated with developing the concept of psychosomatic medicine?How did psychosomatic medicine influence the understanding of the origins of physical disorders?

Answer 17

-Dunbar and Alexander
- Psychosomatic medicine helped shape the belief that emotional conflicts can lead to physical disorders (e,g ulcers, hypotheridosim)

Question 18

What criticism does psychosomatic medicine face regarding the causation of illnesses?

Answer 18

It is criticized for the view that a specific emotional conflict or personality style alone is insufficient to produce illness.

Question 19

What does behavioral medicine focus on and how does it integrate different sciences?

Answer 19

-Behavioral medicine focuses on creating practical interventions to show the body-mind connection.
-It combines behavioral and biomedical sciences to understand, prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate physical health and illness.

Question 20

How does the biomedical model explain illness?

Answer 20

The biomedical model explains illness through physical bodily processes, ignoring psychological and social factors.

Question 21

How does the biopsychosocial model explain health and illness?

Answer 21

The biopsychosocial model explains health and illness as the result of interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors

Question 22

What are the key differences between the biomedical and biopsychosocial models?

Answer 22

1. Biomedical model:
   - Reductionistic (focuses only on the physical aspects, ignoring other factors)
   - Focuses on a single cause of illness
   - Assumes mind-body separation (dualism)
   - Emphasizes illness over health
2. Biopsychosocial model:
   - Considers both macrolevel (broad, social/environmental) and microlevel (individual, biological) factors
   - Considers multiple causes of illness
   - Mind and body are inseparable
   - Emphasizes both health and illness

Question 23

What factors are considered in the biopsychosocial model of disease?

Answer 23

1. Biological factors: genetics, anatomy, physiology
2. Pathogens: germs, toxins
3. Behavioral risk factors: diet, exercise, smoking, safe sex
4. Social factors: family, society, friends

Question 24

What are two advantages of the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 24

1. It integrates macrolevel (social) and microlevel (biological) factors
2. It views the mind and body as interconnected.

Question 25

What is the systems theory approach in the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 25

The systems theory approach sees health as a network of interconnected factors where changes at one level affect all other levels.