Dear Tina,
Psychological factors have an important, not to say, tremendous,
effect, on individuals health, and when they are sick, also on their
recovery prospects.
First of all, regarding healthy individuals, pain management is
strongly correlated with psychological and emotional factors. It has
been found, that our perception of pain and our pain management skills
depend on cultural factors, on childhood memories, on our parents
attitude towards pain, on patterns of behaviour that are inherent ed
from our childhood, etc. (1)
Moreover, psychological/emotional factors effect our attitude towards
pain in different times, depending on our psychological well-being and
mood at that time (ibid.). On the other hand, distraction of attention
from pain, reduces this pain (ibid.). This relates to another
psychological/emotional factor in patient care - the fact that they
have no control on their bodies. It has been found, that the greater
the sense of control on the body, the lower the pain felt (ibid).
Patients who received instructions as to the amount and level of pain
they are about to endure, reported less discomfort than those who were
not similarly instructed (ibid.).
Psychological factors can determine the possibility of a person to
develop a physical illness, and the prospects for that illness to have
impact on his or her life. For example, "A preliminary study from Duke
University Medical Centre in Durham, N.C., suggests that learning how
to manage stress can sharply reduce the incidence of subsequent heart
problems in patients with diagnosed heart disease."(2)
Therefore, the elimination (or treatment) of psychological factors can
have an important positive impact on the prevention of a disease and
on the treatment of an ongoing one.
The psychological and emotional factors can determine if one is a good
candidate that might get better after an operation, or that the
operation is less likely to benefit them (3).
On the other hand, psychological factors that are not well-handled,
such as stress, could cause illness. "The stress-related back pain
diagnosis is a "psychosomatic" or "psycho-physiological" one. A
psycho-physiological illness is any illness in which physical symptoms
are thought to be the direct result of psychological or emotional
factors. This diagnosis means that psychological factors either
initiated or are maintaining the back pain, or both...It should be
emphasised that even though psychological factors may be causing the
physical symptoms, the symptoms are not imaginary. They are very real
physical problems (such as back pain), which are being impacted upon
by emotional factors." (4).
With other medical conditions, it is also evident that
"Hostility¡¢emotional suppression and neuroticism all have close
linkages to cancer and heart disease." (5).
This is also true on recovery from illness: " psychological factors
such as depression, self-esteem, optimism and beliefs in personal
control are associated with health-related behaviours, health and
recovery from illness"(6). This is also true in other conditions:
"Psychological factors play an important role in determining cardiac
patients¡¯ adjustment to and recovery from cardiovascular events
(Kaoukis, 1999). They have been found to be better predictors of
functional or psychosocial recovery than medical indices such as
illness severity (e.g. extent of infarction). A significant number of
cardiac patients experience severe psychological distress following
their event, which in turn complicates their recovery, reduces their
chances for survival, and increases their risk for future events.
Psychological factors adversely affect the biological endpoints of CVD
(cardiovascular disease) by directly and indirectly influencing
pathophysiological processes that are associated with the development
and progression of the disease. Consequently, they must be carefully
assessed and addressed in cardiac rehabilitation programs." (7).
Sources
=-=-=-=
(1) Lecture, "Psychological Factors and Pain"
<http://bernard.pitzer.edu/~mmaldona/thresholds/sld014.htm>.
(2) "Learning How to Manage Stress May Reduce Further Cardiac Problems
in Heart Patients", Psychiatric News
<http://www.psych.org/pnews/97-12-19/heart.html>.
(3) "Unique Psychological Factors: Are You a Good Candidate for
Bariatric Surgery?" <http://www.spotlighthealth.com/morbid_obesity/weight_loss_surgery/psychology/good_candidate.html>.
(4) "Stress related back pain"
<http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/stress/str01.html>.
(5) HOU Yubo "The Effects of Personality and Social Psychological
Factors on Health of Senior" R.D.1999-11-22 P.D.2000-09-20 Vol.36 No.5
pp.719¡ª724 (Abstract:
<http://www.pku.edu.cn/academic/xb/2000/_00e520.html>).
(6) MacLeod Malcolm et al. "Deprivation, Psychological Factors and
Health: Response and Recovery from Illness "
<http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/apsocsci/hvp/projects/macleod.htm> and
<http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/apsocsci/hvp/newsletters/8findings.htm>.
(7) Kaoukis, George et al., "The Role Of Psychological Factors In
Adjusting To Cardiovascular Events"
<http://www.cacr.ca/news/2001/0104Kaoukis.htm>.
Further Reading
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Big Chalk, "Stress, Psychological Factors, & Health"
<http://www.bigchalk.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WOPortal.woa/wa/BCPageDA/sec~CAB~33553~~>
"Psychological Factors" (Back pains)
<http://www.spine-health.com/search/psychfact01.html>.
Gasto.org "Emotional factors may affect irritable bowel syndrome and
vice versa" <http://www.gastro.org/reuters/2000/July/10/20000706clin002.html>.
University of California, Berkeley "A Selection of Published
Literature... Psychological Factors"
<http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/cwh/lit/lit_psycho.shtml>.
Green, John et al. "Psychological Factors in Recurrent Genital Herpes
", Genitourinary Medicine
Vol. 73, pp. 253-258, Sep. 1997
<http://www.ama-assn.org/special/std/library/scan/97arch/greena.htm>.
Google Group that discusses these issues: misc.health.alternative
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=misc.health.alternative>.
Search strategy used:
====================
I used scirus.com (a scientific database, www.scirus.com), as well as
medscape.com (www.medscape.com) and Google.com. In all three I
searched for "emotional factors" or "psychological factors" and
"health" or "diseases" or "recovery" "illness".
I think that answered your question. Please let me know if you need a
clarification on the answer. I'd be pleased to clarify the answer
before you rate it. |
,
0 Comments
)