Health Psychology
21 830 424
Spring, 2016
Professor Kent Harber
Readings and Materials
Text: Health Psychology, 7th Ed., Taylor, S.E.
NJ Books, 167 University Ave.
Reader: Affordable Copies, 55 Halsey St.
PowerPoint Slides:
nwkpsych.rutgers.edu/~kharber/healthpsychology/
Health Psychology Defined
“Health psychology is devoted to
understanding psychological influences on
how people stay healthy, why they become
ill, and how they respond when they get ill”.
Taylor, p. 3
What are “Psychological Influences”?
Emotions
Thoughts
Control over thoughts and feelings
Habits of action
Social Relations
Stress
Personality/Temperament
Communication
What is “Health”?
Disease free
Physical well-being
Symptom free
Mental well-being
Injury free
World Health Organization (WHO)
Definition of Health
“A complete state of physical, mental, and
social well being and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity”.
Mind-Body Problem
Are mind and body separate things?
Are they one united thing?
History of Health
Era
World View
Knowledge
Methods
Theories
Mind/Body
Beliefs
Tools and
Treatments
Pre historic
(up to 2000
BCE)
Nature is
mysterious,
dangerous,
shaped by the
supernatural.
Observation
Oral tradition
Faith-based
Spirit world
Greeks &
Romans
600 BCE to
300 CE
World is ordered
and rational
Observation
Logic
Association
Categories and Mind and body
elements
are
Humoral theory interconnected:
Potions, herbs,
diet
crude surgery
Dark/Middle
Ages
400 CE to
1500 CE
World a battle
between good
and evil.
Bible
God's will,
satanic
influence
Mind and body
are
interconnected
Torture, prayer
crude surgery
Modern Era
1700 to
present
Empiricism
World ordered,
knowable;
separation of
rational / spiritual.
Dualism
Cellular,
mechanistic
Mind and body
are separate
Modern
medicines;
microscopes,
scanners, X-Ray
Mind and body
are interconnected
herbs, poultices,
Trephination,
crude surgery
Bodies are Beautiful, Sexy, Lovely,
Scary, Creepy, Ugly Nasty Things!!!
Pre-Science World: Wonders and Terrors
We Are So Beyond Superstition
Limitations on Pre-Science
Understanding of Health
Pre-science
medicine lacked
basic tools for
seeing, recording,
measuring.
Trephination
Stone Age Migraine
Primitive patient: Doc, I get these horrendous headaches. First I see flashing
lights, then I hear this pounding, then it feels like a mastodon is standing on
my skull.
Primitive MD: Hmmm. Let’s see. Yep, that sounds like a classic case of
acute evil spirits.
Primitive Patient: Is this serious?
Primitive MD: Very serious. Fortunately, we have just the remedy for this
condition. We’ll poke a small hole in the back of your head, and release the
evil spirits. You’ll be your old self. This is called “trephining”
Primitive Patient: And is this covered by my insurance?
International Trephination Advocacy Group (ITAG)
The hypothesis here at ITAG has been that making a opening in
the skull favorably alters movement of blood through the brain
and improves brain functions which are more important than ever
before in history to adapt to an ever more rapidly changing world.
Humoral System
Body contains four circulating fluids:
Blood
Yellow Bile
Black Bile
Phlegm
Illness: Humors are out of balance.
TX: Return balance of humors; bleeding
Personality linked to humors.
Phlegm “Phlegmatic
Brain
Mild, calm, thoughtful
Blood “Sanguine”
Black Bile “Melancholic”
Heart
Spleen
Warm, passionate, cheerful
Quiet, depressed, analytical
Yellow Bile “Choleric”
Liver
Ambitious, crabby
Med. Procedures Based on Humoral System:
Leeches, Bleeding, and Blistering
Guess which one of these practices has been “rediscovered?”
Leeches Make a Come-Back,
Sucker!
WHY DID PEOPLE SUBJECT THEMSELVES
TO MEDIEVAL MEDICINE?
Power of the Placebo
Placebos have:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Lowered blood sugar in diabetics
Shrunken tumors in cancer patients
Relieved post-operative pain
Reduced cholesterol and mortality among
cardiac patients.
e. Leads to withdrawal symptoms of
chemical dependence.
Percent of Pain Relief
Placebo in Drug Trials
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
"No-Throb"
Placebo
No Meds
Placebo can account for more than 30% of analgesic efficacy
Age of Enlightenment and Tools for Seeing
Separation of Powers and the Power of Separations
Separate Domains of Learning: Sciences, philosophy, theology
Separation of Church and State
Separation of Powers (US Constitution): Executive, Legislative, Judiciary
Separations of Mind and Body
De Carte:
Dualism, mind and body are separate
Spinoza:
Emotions are irrational, keep separate from reason
Biomedical Model Vs. Biopsychosocial Model
Biomedical Model
Reductionist
Single factor
Assumes mind-body dualism
Emphasizes illness over health
Biopsychosocial Model
Macro-level as well as mirco-level
Multiple factors
Mind and body inseparable
Emphasizes both health and illness
Topics Covered in This Class
1. Introduction
2. Physiological Systems (two classes)
3. Symptoms
4. Pain (two classes)
5. Stress (two classes)
6. Psychoneuroimmunology
7. Denial, optimism, pessimism, and coping
8. Hostility, negative affect, and depression
9. Adjustment to negative events
10. Coping through personal disclosure
Topics Covered in This Class (cont.)
11. Collective coping
12. Social relations and health
13. Negative social support
14. Stigma and illness
15. Being a patient
16. The patient/provider relationship
17. Management of chronic illness
18. Hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
19. AIDS and cancer
20. Mortality and body attitudes
21. Health-enhancing behaviors (two classes)
Grading
a.
b.
c.
c.
Mid-term
Final
Two quizzes
Project
30%
35%
20%
15%
House Rules
1. Show up on time—15 + min late w/o excuse
2. Cell phones, electronics off at start of class
3. No texting during class—ever
4. Texting during test—automatic F
5. Cheating—F in class, and formal report
6. Drinks OK, food not OK.
Tips on Succeeding in This Class
1. Take notes. Don’t be a passive listener.
2. Read with your pen. Don’t just highlight, make
margin notes for main points.
3. Attend class
4. Download Powerpoint slides
5. I’m a nice guy, but a tough grader. Study for exams!
Reading With Your Pen