We are going to discuss the role of Health Psychology once again. It will be different this
time, though. Now that we have taken a good look into many of the important concepts in Health
Psychology, you will be in a better position to understand the remaining introduction of Health Psychology.
For example, if now we will talk about prevention, you will know what it is, and how many types of
prevention are there. Similarly, if we talk about promoting health, you will know what we mean by that. In
this way, we will try to summarize all important ideas of Health Psychology in this lecture. Not only will we
talk about the already discussed points, but also some more new ideas. Your benefits of becoming a Health
Psychologist, for instance; we will talk about the plus points of becoming a Health Psychologist and also the
possible future careers.
Let’s begin with the importance of Health Psychology and its role in today’s world. Many researchers
believe that physical health may be influenced by psychology through a variety of direct and indirect means.
There is some evidence that certain negative mental states (such as depression and anxiety) can directly
affect physical immunity through production of stress hormones, such as the chatelaines and
corticosteroids. Although this research is widely debated, there is also some indication that negative
psychological states may lead to faster disease progression in certain diseases (such as HIV and heart
disease) through these direct biological mechanisms. Negative emotional states may also indirectly affect
disease processes through their influence on health behaviors. For example, depression has been related to
many risk factors for poor health including overeating, smoking, physical inactivity, and poor medication
compliance.
In a nutshell, we can say that Health Psychology is “the use of psychological principles to promote
health and to prevent illness"; it is also part of clinical treatment for established illnesses”. This approach
considers the biological, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, psychosomatic and environmental factors
as they relate to health, illness and health care at the level of individuals. This approach has adopted what it
calls the Biopsychosocial model.
time, though. Now that we have taken a good look into many of the important concepts in Health
Psychology, you will be in a better position to understand the remaining introduction of Health Psychology.
For example, if now we will talk about prevention, you will know what it is, and how many types of
prevention are there. Similarly, if we talk about promoting health, you will know what we mean by that. In
this way, we will try to summarize all important ideas of Health Psychology in this lecture. Not only will we
talk about the already discussed points, but also some more new ideas. Your benefits of becoming a Health
Psychologist, for instance; we will talk about the plus points of becoming a Health Psychologist and also the
possible future careers.
Let’s begin with the importance of Health Psychology and its role in today’s world. Many researchers
believe that physical health may be influenced by psychology through a variety of direct and indirect means.
There is some evidence that certain negative mental states (such as depression and anxiety) can directly
affect physical immunity through production of stress hormones, such as the chatelaines and
corticosteroids. Although this research is widely debated, there is also some indication that negative
psychological states may lead to faster disease progression in certain diseases (such as HIV and heart
disease) through these direct biological mechanisms. Negative emotional states may also indirectly affect
disease processes through their influence on health behaviors. For example, depression has been related to
many risk factors for poor health including overeating, smoking, physical inactivity, and poor medication
compliance.
In a nutshell, we can say that Health Psychology is “the use of psychological principles to promote
health and to prevent illness"; it is also part of clinical treatment for established illnesses”. This approach
considers the biological, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, psychosomatic and environmental factors
as they relate to health, illness and health care at the level of individuals. This approach has adopted what it
calls the Biopsychosocial model.
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