Psychology of health, mental health and well-being

Professor Marie Reed

Psychology has a profound effect on physical health, mental health, and well-being, but these are often improperly considered. Biomedical sciences looks at the health and even mental health caused by the physical condition of the body, including the brain. Biomedicine has certainly made great strides in the treatment of all kinds of illnesses, eradicating some and extending lifespan. Nonetheless, effective treatment of many illnesses requires psychological knowledge and medicine, but when it comes to mental health issues, psychological interventions are more effective than medicine and other biological interventions. .. Many common health problems usually require psychological input from clinical and health psychologists. Here are some examples based on the work of our research group in Hull.

In the wealthy regions of developed and developing countries, many are overweight or obese. The cause is very simple. The food they eat has more energy than they consume in their lives through work, play, and deliberate exercise. However, despite experiencing many health problems such as overweight and obesity, people often struggle with dieting, weight loss, and weight loss. To understand why, psychologists say they have an entire lifestyle pattern, how the food industry encourages binge eating by selling and selling food, stigma, prejudice, and even bullying and abuse directed at obese people. Find out how to despair and lose motivation for weight loss. In many cases, losing weight and losing weight requires changing your overall lifestyle and addressing the underlying psychological problems that caused you to neglect weight management.

Life events, challenges and adversities can cause psychological stress and affect the immune system and other physiological functions, adversely affecting mental and physical health and making people more easily ill. increase. It is widely recognized that difficult events like exams and horrific events like traffic accidents are stressful. Positive events and small difficulties can also be stressful, and it is not well recognized that all of these have a cumulative negative impact on well-being. Cumulative stress is a very common cause for staff to take long sick leave, so in demanding work such as police, properly assess workplace stress, recognize signs of stress, and they. It is very important to manage effectively rather than seeing it as a sign of weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems. Antidepressants are effective, but cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression is even more effective. People with depression often distort the idea that their memories and emotions are heavily biased negatively. Part of CBT tells people to recognize and counter this prejudice, using techniques that can remember and recognize the positive and negative aspects of life and count their blessings and problems. is teaching.

Chronic health problems are difficult to manage and can cause mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression can make it difficult to manage chronic health problems and can worsen the patient’s condition. For example, diabetics with depression may not be able to properly manage their condition by choosing the right foods. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome who are depressed may not find a point to lose weight, even if they want to have a baby. The service of metabolic disorders benefits from the involvement of psychologists in designing interventions that take such issues into account.

Mental health issues are often stigmatized and those who suffer from them can be considered dangerous and frightening. For example, drug addicts are often considered dangerous and difficult patients, their condition is attributed to themselves, they are considered to be discontinued, and basics such as hepatitis vaccination. Even good medical care can be rejected. Still, many addicts have a terrible life history of negligence, abuse, and suffering, and use drugs to block intolerable feelings about the past and the bad things they did to get and take illegal drugs. doing. Part of recovery from addiction is learning to live without drugs with the help of psychology. That is, learning to overcome the past and deal with negative emotions. If you can’t get drunk and deal with horrifying thoughts and feelings, it’s unlikely that an addict can stop using it forever. Similar problems apply to other mental health problems such as schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, mania, and personality disorders. These are often stigmatized, misunderstood, concealed, or treated primarily with medication, although they can actually be treated with psychotherapy.

As people live longer, many are afraid of dementia. It can be difficult to distinguish between the psychological effects of normal aging, such as increased forgetfulness, and the more serious effects that may be early signs of dementia. Psychologists can use standard cognitive tests of memory, thinking, and reasoning to screen people who are worried about dementia and provide appropriate information and guidance about their condition.

Eating disorders are a terrifying and dangerous condition, especially if the patient is extremely thin due to anorexia nervosa. Treatment often needs to focus on eating and weight gain. However, people living with eating disorders often have complex underlying psychological problems due to childhood and adolescence that help to cause and maintain eating disorders. I have. To promote long-term recovery, understand and address these complex issues, including life challenges such as perfectionism, difficulty dealing with anger and other negative emotions, bullying, neglect, and abuse. Is essential. If these are not addressed, the person may have a healthy weight, but is still “headless” and prone to develop other eating disorders or other psychological problems.

These examples show the widespread importance of psychology in understanding and treating physical health and illness, as well as mental health. Another example is that psychological screening and counseling can improve and speed recovery from surgery. Many medications and other interventions are less effective because the patient does not follow the instructions correctly. Psychology can understand and improve compliance. Perhaps most importantly, many health problems and illnesses are managed by changing the behavior of the patient. Psychology has gained a detailed understanding of how to design effective behavioral change techniques. In fact, these have been applied to manage Covid-19 lockdowns.

(The author is a professor of psychology and a clinical psychologist consultant at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Hull. The views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of FinancialExpress.com.)