Role Of Psychology In Health Psychology

INTRODUCTION Does psychology play a role in physical illness? Yes, and Health psychology seeks to determine this, and the extent of that role, by focusing on the behavior and beliefs associated with physical illness.

CONTENT

A simple definition states that “Health psychology is the study of the role of psychology in any physical health problem” (2017), Ogden J. Health psychology does not follow the traditional biomedical model, where health problems are believed to be introduced to the patient from the external, for example through germs, but rather, that a composite of biological, psychological and social factors can lead to illness. The patient is not blamed for their illness in the biomedical model, where the medical profession, dispenses

She believes she must be mother, breadwinner and self-motivator all in one and does not ask for help. This could have opened up some time for her to take a much-needed rest whilst a friend kept an eye on her children. With two small children, stress will be a major factor for her and this will again contribute to illness. She obviously has to work long and hard to make ends meet and yet is unable to afford to see a Doctor. Fatima is not in the best of situations and immediately, one can identify with the pressures she will be under. She works 50 hour weeks. She hardly finds the time to relax and so fatigue is a natural consequence. She hardly pays any attention to herself, and is unable to feed herself or her children with healthy meals. She gives everything including herself to her children. She cannot afford to see a doctor for her fatigue and occasional chest pain and takes a chance that the pain may be nothing, but it is something and she develops

It won’t be enough to treat Fatima for hypertension alone, her sense of self-worth may need tending, a regime to de-stress is important. Her social setting may need looking into so as to establish a support structure. Fatima’s case is best likely to be resolved using the health and illness as a continuum model. Stress, her approach to just keep working and her belief that her symptoms were nothing, brought her to illness onset. With illness adaptation, and her diagnosis confirmed, changes in behaviour, social support, adherence to the doctor’s decisions, belief that she can manage her diagnosis well and better coping mechanisms should put her on the mend. Her illness outcome will be one where she can have a better quality of life, with reinforced and new behaviour.

One can also argue that Fatima’s was a direct pathway to her health status. She took no actions or new behavior at the onset of her symptoms, nor did she take any steps to abate the fatigue, which took her directly to her health status and impacted her health