Lesson 5 discusses health as a part of psychology. According to the lesson, “a plethora of recent research has made the connection between mental states and physical health in areas as diverse as the connection between mental fatigue and sports performance” (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015). Social psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, and biological psychology all make up the field of health psychology (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015). Health psychology is defined as the “science of understanding psychological and social influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill or injured, and how they respond to illness, injury, and treatment” (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015). Fortunately however, applied social psychology theories can be used to enhance and preserve people’s physical well-being (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015).
According to Collingwood, people who suffer from depression typically have worse physical health, than those without depression (2010). There is a certain risk associated with people with both depression and physical health problems. The physical problem can worsen depression’s assessment and treatment by concealing or imitating its symptoms. This can also occur the other way around. For example, people with any lasting physical illness typically feel more psychological pain than do healthy people. Essentially, “poor physical health brings an increased risk of depression, as do the social and relationship problems that are common among chronically ill patients” (Collingwood, 2010). In a study that was conducted in 2009 with patients who had severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it was found that 22 percent of the patients had at least mild depression according to the Beck Depression Inventory, which measures the severity of depression. The study also found that 17 percent of the patients were take antidepressants, medications to relieve symptoms of depressive disorders. The researchers of the study state that, “depression is an independent determinant of health-related quality of life,” for the patients (Collingwood, 2010).
The rate of depression in patients with a chronic disease is approximately three times higher than normal according to Professor David Goldberg of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, United Kingdom (Collingwood, 2010). Goldberg states, “depression and chronic illness are in reciprocal relationship with one another: not only do many chronic illnesses cause higher rates of depression, but depression has been shown to antedate some chronic physical illnesses” (Collingwood, 2010). He further states that physical illness and depression are typically seen more often than depression by itself. Goldberg says, “depression among those with chronic physical illnesses is likely to be missed by professionals why care for physically sick patients because health professionals are understandably concerned with the physical disorder which is usually the reason for the consultation, and may not be aware of the accompanying depression” (Collingwood, 2010).
There is no denying this serious concern with the rate of depression in patients with a chronic disease, however, specific theories of applied social psychology can help. The hopelessness theory of depression in particular which “suggests that depressive symptoms are most likely to occur when two factors are present at the same time: (a) a vulnerable person and (b) negative environmental circumstances” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012) just might be the help. This specific approach can help to treat depression in patients with a chronic disease such as what was discussed above because it “has implications for therapeutic intervention” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). This theory has moved away from hopelessness to hopefulness which is defined “as expecting god things to happen in the future” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Essentially, instead of the antidepressants that were discussed above as an invasive method to relieve the symptoms of depression in people with a chronic illness, the idea behind hopefulness suggests “that people recover from depression by becoming more hopeful” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). To achieve this, counselors should “engineer their clients’ social environments in such a way as to increase the frequency of occurrence of positive life events,” and they should also “encourage clients to think differently and to use an enhancing attributional style” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).
The mind and body are joined systems according to health psychology. Basically, “whatever happens in the brain (or mind) can affect physiological processes elsewhere in the body, and what happens in the environment is mediated by the brain (mind) and can also influence physiological processes” (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015). Since applied social psychologists “draw on social psychological theories, principles, methods, and research evidence to contribute to not only the understanding of social and practical problems but also the development of intervention strategies for improving the functioning of individuals, groups, organizations, communities, and societies with respect to social and practical problems” then the applied social psychology theories can certainly be applied to the instance above (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Applied social psychologists “are in a unique position to broaden the context in which illness, injury and treatment are viewed, giving a more holistic picture of health processes that offers many advantages by the examining the mind-body problem as one” (The Pennsylvania State University, 2015). So in the case above, applied social psychology, specifically being “hopeful” is the key to success.
Works Cited
Collingwood, J. (2010). The Relationship Between Mental and Physical Health. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 15, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-relationship-between-mental-and-physical-health/0002949
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
The Pennsylvania State University (2015). PSYCH424: Applied Social Psychology. Lesson 5: Health AND Clinical/Counseling.