PSYC 3390 Lecture 3: Chapter 9 psychological disorders

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3390
• Professor: Meghan Mc Murtry

Document Summary

Early on the field was called psychosomatic medicine which meant that psychological factors affected somatic (physical) function. Psychological disorder was a label used to communicate a similar idea and much terms are less often used today because they are misleading. Biological, psychological and social factors are implicated in the cause and maintenance of every disorder. Shift in focus from infectious disease to psychological factors has been called the second revolution in public health. Two closely related fields of study have been developed. Behavioural medicine: knowledge derived from behavioural science applied to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical problems. Health psychology: not interdisciplinary, and it is usually considered a subfield of behavioural medicine. Psychological factors influence health and physical problems in 2 distinct ways. Can affect the basic biological processes that lead to illness and disease. Long-standing behaviour patters may put people at risk of developing certain physical disorders.