PSYC 2301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Chronic Condition, Terminal Illness, Tinnitus

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2301
• Professor: Tarry Ahuja

Document Summary

Chronic refers to the duration of the disease/illness. Has long term effects on your body. Ranges from relatively mild to severe (life threatening) You may be born with this or develop later in life. Factors include: genetics- alzheimer"s, ms, environmental- cancer, asthma, lifestyle- cvd, hiv, gout, previous injury or prolonged strain- lower back pain, tinnitus. Prevalence and impact (no need to memorize numbers) 58% of the population has a chronic condition. Chronic conditions are more common in: women, lower-income, seniors, certain ethnic subpopulations (aboriginal people) Staggering economic consequences: diabetes- 10 billion, cancer- 18 billion, arthritis- 20 billion, cvd/hypertension/stroke- 26 billion. Impacted by severity of chronic illness (ex: cancer = in bed all day) Helps determine psychological contribution: depression, anxiety, distress, stress (contributor) Quality of life has several components: physical functioning, psychological status, social functioning, disease or treatment-related symptomology. Qol assessments gauge the extent to which normal life activities have been compromised.