Transcript CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5
A Healthier You
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CHAPTER SUMMARY
Body Image
How We Feel About Our Bodies
Our Ideal Body
Body Image, Age, and
Psychological Well-Being
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CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’D
Psychological Factors And
Physical Illness
The Immune System
Personality
Lifestyle Choices
Environmental Issues
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CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’D
Coping With Illness
Noticing and Interpreting
Symptoms
Seeking Help
Adhering to
Treatment
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CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’D
Promoting Wellness
Taking Charge of Your Own Health
Eating Sensibly
Getting Enough Sleep
Keeping Physically Fit
Finding Social Support
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Body Image
Introduction
Body Image refers to the mental
image we form of our own bodies.
Many people lack a clear image
of their own bodies and consequently
do not take good care of themselves.
Awareness of the insides of their bodies is even less well
formed.
Some of us suffer depersonalization (or
unembodiment), the sense of not being intimately
attached to our bodies.
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How We Feel About Our Bodies
Body image is part of self-concept (covered in Chapter
4).
American society places much emphasis on
appearance; thus many Americans are unhappy with
their bodies.
Women are less satisfied with their bodies than are
men.
In fact, overall dissatisfaction with our bodies is
increasing over time, perhaps due to many of us being
overweight.
The media, parental attitudes, and teasing by others are
generally cited as causes for our dislike of our bodies.
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Our Ideal Body
Our ideal body is the body we
would like to have.
Every society throughout history
has had different standards of
beauty.
In American society, the
standards are very narrowly
defined, i.e. thinness, a
symmetrical face, and youth.
The standards for each sex
differ, such that men and women
misperceive what the opposite
sex desires.
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Body Image, Age, and Psychological
Well-being
Our concern about appearance lessens with age.
This may be fortunate, because as people age, they tend
to gain weight.
We might expect that older people
dislike their bodies, but this
conjecture is not supported by research.
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Psychological Factors
And Physical Illness
The Immune System
The immune system is a complex surveillance system that
defends our bodies by identifying and destroying various
foreign invaders.
The brain and the circulatory system are vital parts of the
immune system.
The exact relationship between mind and body is unknown;
however, psychological factors such as stress might weaken
the immune system and make us more susceptible to illness.
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Personality
Certain personality traits (Goodwin & Engstron, 2002) might
well be associated with perceptions of good health.
The traits are openness to experience, extroversion,
and conscientiousness.
Emotional instability is associated
with perceptions of poor health.
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Personality Cont’d
Another important personality trait related to actual
health is self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is the belief that
we can organize and execute
various actions required to
produce given attainments
or outcomes.
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Personality Cont’d
People high in self-efficacy:
Feel they have control over their own health
Are motivated to maintain a
healthy lifestyle
Participate in more preventive
health measures
Generally better follow health
directives given by professionals
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Personality Cont’d
We can develop a sense of self-efficacy by
Monitoring our own health behaviors
Setting short-term, attainable goals
Enlisting social support or help from others
Imitating others who maintain a healthy lifestyle
We must guard against emphasizing personality so much
that people are made to feel guilty when they fall ill.
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Lifestyle Choices
Many health choices we make (i.e. lifestyle choices) affect
our health and longevity.
Obesity, smoking tobacco, and using alcohol or illicit drugs
are but a few of the lifestyle factors that influence our
health.
Unlike causes of death in other countries (e.g. famine),
lifestyle choices kill more Americans than any other factor.
This is unfortunate, because lifestyle choices are almost
completely within our personal control.
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Obesity
Obesity is an excessive amount of body fat, usually
defined as exceeding the desirable weight for one’s height,
build, and age by 20 percent or more.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of illness and
death from diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, coronary
heart disease, kidney and gallbladder disorders, as well as
some cancers.
Obesity is currently eclipsing
tobacco use as the leading
cause of death in America.
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Obesity Cont’d
Psychological and physiological factors probably contribute
to obesity.
Losing weight involves reducing calorie intake as well as
exercising more.
Self-mastery also plays a role. Individuals
who feel they have control over what,
where, and when they eat more successfully
manage their weight after participation
in weight-loss programs.
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Tobacco
Tobacco abuse is the abuse of tobacco to such an
extent that heart, respiratory, and other health-related
problems develop.
Tobacco abuse remains a leading preventable cause of
death in the U.S.
People today are more aware than in the past of the
dangers of smoking and using tobacco products.
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Tobacco Abuse Cont’d
Smoking tobacco is a difficult habit to break.
Other activities, such as talking on the phone or drinking
coffee, become conditioned to (paired with) smoking,
reminding the smoker to reach for another cigarette.
Withdrawal from nicotine produces unpleasant
symptoms.
Not surprisingly many former smokers return to the habit,
that is, they relapse.
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From: http://www.4girls.gov/4girls.cfm?page=substance/tobacco.htm
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Alcohol and
Drug Abuse
Dependence on a psychoactive substance is what
defines alcohol and drug abuse.
Many Americans report using the “socially acceptable”
substance - alcohol.
Alcohol is a major health hazard in terms of highway
deaths, kidney and liver damage, poor nutrition, and
myriad other health problems.
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Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Cont’d
Drug abuse can occur with prescription drugs (e.g. pain
killers) or illicit drugs (e.g. cocaine).
Abusers (drugs or alcohol) build a tolerance for the
substance and eventually require higher doses.
Upon cessation, withdrawal is an unpleasant consequence
that may be a factor in relapse.
To prevent relapse after treatment, health professionals
suggest that former abusers avoid high risk situations (e.g.
parties where the substance is available) that may promote
relapse.
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Environmental Issues
Both the built environment and the psychological
environment can be toxic for us.
Built Environment:
Air, water, and land pollution are
potentially toxic factors in the built
environment that surrounds us
where we live and work.
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Environmental Issues Cont’d
Psychological Environment:
Psychological (and social) environments may lead to
health problems and include situations that are
ambiguous – a cause is not readily evident
uncontrollable – the person has little control
unpredictable – an individual cannot predict the
outcome
unresolvable – no solution is apparent or
forthcoming
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Coping with Illness
Noticing and Interpreting Symptoms
People vary on how attentive they are
to various signs of illness.
Hypochondriacs are people who habitually complain
of unfounded ailments or exhibit undue fear of illness.
Health can be endangered by completely ignoring
symptoms, however.
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Noticing and Interpreting Symptoms
Cont’d
Many of us cope with potential illness by employing one of
the following strategies:
Avoidance – minimizing or denying symptoms
Confrontation – dealing directly with the
symptoms
Downward comparison – comparing our health to
others who are worse off
than we are
Be aware that people from different cultures may notice and
manage symptoms differently.
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Seeking Help
Many people wait until their symptoms are extreme to
seek help.
Men and women differ on this dimension, with women
more likely to seek professional health care.
The professional health care provider
also plays a vital role in our willingness
to seek help.
For example, women physicians
spend more time with patients,
tend to encourage two-way communication, and explain medical terms better.
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Adhering to Treatment
As many as one-half of all people do not follow or
complete prescribed treatments.
Among the many reasons are dissatisfaction with the
health professional, misunderstanding of the illness or
the instructions, and anxiety about drug dependence.
How the instructions are framed
also plays a significant role:
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Adhering to Treatment Cont’d
A positively framed message (about potential
gains) works best for promoting preventive
practices.
EXAMPLE: If you exercise, you will
live longer.
A negatively framed message (potential costs)
works best for facilitating detection of symptoms.
EXAMPLE: If you don’t quit eating
candy and donuts, you’ll
become obese.
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Promoting Wellness
Taking Charge of Your Own Health
Key factors in staying well include:
Understanding how your body works
Managing stress effectively
Knowing how the mind and body interact
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Key factors in staying well cont’d:
Monitoring your own health periodically
Getting periodic medical checkups
Keeping your own medical records
Knowing the health risks of lifestyle,
heredity, and environment
Participating actively with you doctor in your own health care
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Eating Sensibly
Eating sensibly involves both the
kinds of food and how much food
we eat.
A well-balanced diet includes
adequate amounts of various food
groups:
Drinking enough water is also
essential.
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Specifics of the Food Pyramid;
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Getting Enough Sleep
Without adequate sleep, people make more errors, tend to fall
asleep involuntarily, and may interrupt their otherwise normal
sleep patterns.
The average adult obtains about 7 hours of sleep, although
everyone differs in how much sleep is actually needed.
Babies require lots more
sleep than do adults.
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Getting Enough Sleep Cont’d
We also need to dream, just as Freud suggested.
REM sleep is dream sleep
NREM sleep is deeper, more restful sleep
Scientists are still unsure about why we dream or what
dreams signify.
REM and NREM
sleep vary over
the course of
night.
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Keeping Physically Fit
Physical fitness is our ability to function efficiently and
effectively, including both health-related and skill-related
fitness components.
Despite knowing that exercise is beneficial, 60% of Americans
do not exercise regularly while 25% do not exercise at all.
The benefits of physical exercise are enormous:
Reduced risk of early death
Reduced risk of a number of diseases
Improved or elevated mood
Enhanced performance in daily life
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Keeping Physically Fit Cont’d
To improve your fitness:
Identify your own personal fitness needs
Select personalized exercises to increase enjoyment
Vary your fitness routines to prevent boredom
Exercise regularly on a daily basis if possible
Evaluate your routines and modify them accordingly
Find someone to exercise with you
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