Illness Beliefs and the Health Continuum: A Biopsychosocial Approach

By writing about the illness beliefs and their consequences we can understand how much the beliefs shape the Health Continuum. In the Biopsychosocial Model (George Engel, 1977) per each aspect multiple elements influence other life points, if there are psychological issues the behavior can be started to be altered with negative effects on Physical Health (Biology) and Social Integration. For example, if someone is suffering from Depression, maybe he/she can start an emotional form of eating, a thing that can lead to metabolic dysfunction that can create a biological reaction as a hyperactive Thyroid. Such things can make the person vulnerable to his/her mirror figure by a form of dysmorphophobia; a comorbidity issue that can live with a depressive mood. This thing alters self-esteem, and the person can isolate himself. By thinking of all of that, it can appear a logical consequence of the reason why the psychological point is vital to delineate the Illness Beliefs. They can create a health continuum not toward the resolution of the problem. The beliefs are not just that, they can make a good, or not, speech with the doctor – and the doctor with the patient -. Identity, cause, timeline (how long it will last), consequences, and controllability of illness are the roots around whom a patient builds his strategy of health solutions (Peyrot, 1999). The decision to cure is shaped by the beliefs that the Patient has for medication and treatments; Peyrots (1999) said that the history of the patient has a big importance in this mechanism as it can identify the elements that are related to a good health path and dialog Doctor-Patient.

If we need to delineate a good example, we can start with a woman of 35 years old who received a diagnosis of diabetes. One of the elements to start with, is the Daily recording of her lifestyle, a sort of weekly diary, in which the patient can write her habits and mood each day (Bradley, 1982). This starting is vital as the person can be aware of what she needs to manage and what she can do to find a balance between physical and mental health. Bradley (1982) said that psychological factors are important in shaping the activation of the surreal glands and the sympathetic nervous system, a thing that is directly connected with good management of glucose. Patients can experience a high variation in glycogen management in direct connection with stressors (Peyrot, 1999). By looking at the daily diary it is highly probable to find some beliefs and biases about medications, lack of motivation, and emotional states, that can make the diabetes more severe. It can show the cause and controllability of illness in the Model of Illness Behavior. Aikens (1997) underlined in his research that 56% of people understand the importance of the psychological status for managing illness. This percentual is probably higher in our modern period thanks to digital information, and for the Biopsychosocial model that is becoming increasingly important. By using all of that, the doctor will help the woman understand the identity of the problem and the cause, the diary highlights the cause and shapes the controllability which consequences are delineated by self-monitoring and by the kind of illness; over that the timeline (how long the illness will last).

I can say that sometimes a lot of information presented digitally is good from one side and bad from the other side, as I’m aware that they decreased social interactions, and with that, we can think that we know (as maybe is not like that). I think that a good average between self-awareness - not being even completely anchored to a doctor - but receiving and respecting his advice by considering that there could be some biases to alter our path from both sides, doctors and patients; All of that is important for a good health continuum.

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References

Aikens, J. E., Kiolbasa, T. A., & Sobel, R. (1997). Psychological

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Insulin-Dependent Diabetes mellitus.

Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 66(6), 302–306.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/45116433

Bradley, c. (1982). Psychophysiological Aspects of

the Management of Diabetes Mellitus. international

journal of mental health, 11(3), 117–132.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41344287

Peyrot, M., McMurry, J. F., & Kruger, D. F. (1999). A

Biopsychosocial Model of Glycemic Control in Diabetes: Stress,

Coping and Regimen Adherence. Journal of Health and Social

Behavior, 40(2), 141–158.

https://doi.org/10.2307/2676370