PSYC 1002 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Conscientiousness, Common Cold, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
22 Mar 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Chapter 14 stress coping, and health notes pages. Prior to the 20th century, the principle threats to health were contagious diseases caused by infectious agents: smallpox, diphtheria, etc. Nutrition, public hygiene, and medical treatment have obliterated many of these diseases. Unfortunately, chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, diseases that develop gradually, continue to increase. The traditional view of physical illness as a purely biological phenomenon has given way to a new model, the biopsychosocial model, which holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. Health psychology is the field of study that seeks to determine the importance of psychological factors in illness, as well as in prevention and health maintenance. Stress is defined in the text as any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one"s well-being and that thereby tax one"s coping ability.
