HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
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There are several factors that contribute to a patient`s ability to cope with illness. Most of the factors that contribute to a patient`s ability to cope with illness are as a result of the patient`s efforts which are in most cases instigated by improved educational level/awareness of the patient regarding the illness. In order to satisfactorily handle a given illness, the patient has to be aware of the causes of that particular illness and the available control measures in order to understand and handle the illness appropriately. There are some people who become ill more often than others. The rate at which people get ill is highly affected by the environmental conditions, physiological conditions of the patient and behavioral properties of the patient. There are several other factors that are related to the development of illness. They include but not limited to stress, diet, social support and coping style.
Stress is one of the top causes of the top chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. Stress refers to a process whereby the environmental demands pulls the adaptive capacity of the patient thus causing psychological and biological changes that can make an individual to become ill (Cohen et. al., 1995). There are several factors/circumstances that result into stress. These factors are called stressors (Rubin, Paplau, & Salovey, 1993). There are very many events that can be grouped as stressors. They include but not limited to; disasters, life crises, life changes, and daily hassles (Rubin, Paplau, & Salovey, 1993). There are some chronic diseases that are made worse by the presence of stress. Other illnesses like HIV/AIDS can be very severe if the patient is subjected to stress (Pruessner et al., 1991). A patient should therefore device ways of dealing with stress in order to manage the illness properly. In this study, we considered a young man suffering H...