, INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
CHAPTER 1
AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY AND HEALTH
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. What is Health?
A. Section Introduction
1. Common definitions of health focus on lack of:
a. objective signs of illness - e.g., high blood pressure
b. subjective symptoms of illness - e.g., pain or nausea
B. An Illness/Wellness Continuum
1. The concepts of health and sickness overlap
2. Antonovsky proposes an illness/wellness continuum with polar ends of
death/illness/disability v. optimal wellness
a. need to change focus from what makes people sick to what
keeps people well
3. Health = the positive state of physical, mental and social well-being that
varies over time along a continuum
C. Illness Today and in the Past
1. In industrialized nations, people live longer than in past and suffer from
different patterns of illnesses
2. Until this century, people in North America died from mainly dietary and
infectious diseases
a. dietary illnesses: illnesses resulting from malnutrition such as
beriberi (lack of vitamin B1)
b. infectious diseases: acute illnesses caused by harmful matter or
microorganisms (bacteria or viruses); main cause of death in
most of world today; especially lower income developing
countries
3. History of diseases in Canada
a. 18th & 19th centuries: epidemics of smallpox, cholera, diphtheria,
measles and influenza killed thousands, esp. children
, i. such diseases were introduced to America by European
settlers
1) Aboriginals died at high rates due to lack of
previous exposure and natural immunity; lack of
immunity probably due to low degree of genetic
variation
2) exposure to infectious diseases resulted in famine,
social unrest, and population depletion in
aboriginal communities
b. 19th century: infectious diseases were still the greatest threat to
early settlers and new diseases were emerging (e.g.,
tuberculosis)
i. Smallpox epidemic in Montreal led to the formation of a
board of health in Quebec
ii.Tuberculosis was the greatest cause of death in Canada in
1867; death rate declined sharply towards the end of the
century with the introduction of vaccines
iii. cause of decline in death rates for all infectious diseases
can be attributed to preventive measures including:
1) improved personal hygiene
2) better nutrition resulting in greater resistance to
disease
3) public health innovation (e.g., water purification and
sewage treatment facilities)
4) increased personal concern about health and
following advice of health reformers
5) appointment of medical office to oversee health in
Aboriginal communities
th
c. 20 century: death rate due to infectious disease declined and
average life expectancy increased
i. increase in life expectancy at birth from 59 years to 80
years for men and 61 years to 84 years for women
1) life expectancy varies according to region and
ethnicity; lower for some Aboriginal groups
ii. chronic disease leading cause of health problems and half
of all deaths in developed countries
1) definition = degenerative illnesses that develop or
persist over long period of time
2) examples = heart disease, cancer, stroke
3) reasons = increase in industrialization increases
stress and exposure to harmful chemicals; longer
life span places people at higher risk for chronic
disease
2
, 4. Main causes of death across the life span
a. children – accidental injury, cancer, & congenital abnormalities
b. adolescents – accidental injury, homicide, suicide
II. Viewpoints from History: Physiology, Disease Processes, and the Mind
A. Early Cultures
1. Belief that physical and mental illness caused by mystical forces (e.g.,
evil spirits)
a. speculative evidence - use of trephination to allow spirits to
escape
B. Ancient Greece and Rome
1. Hippocrates’ humoral theory
a. health was due to harmony or balance of four humors whereas
illness was the result of an imbalance of bodily fluids
b. health recommendations included good diet, avoiding excesses
to keeps humors in balance
2. Introduction of the mind/body problem
a. Greek philosophers, including Plato, argued that the mind and
body are separate entities (mind has little impact on the body
and its state of health)
3. Influence of Galen
a. believed in humoral theory and mind-body split
b. innovations attributed to Galen - animal dissections to discover
how systems work, localization of illness, and belief that different
disease have different effects
C. The Middle Ages
1. With collapse of Roman Empire, advancement of knowledge and
culture slowed dramatically
2. Impact of the Church on slowing development of medical knowledge
a. prohibition on human and animal dissection
b. belief that creatures with a soul were set apart from ordinary laws
of the universe
3. Illness was believed to be a punishment for sin
3
CHAPTER 1
AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY AND HEALTH
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. What is Health?
A. Section Introduction
1. Common definitions of health focus on lack of:
a. objective signs of illness - e.g., high blood pressure
b. subjective symptoms of illness - e.g., pain or nausea
B. An Illness/Wellness Continuum
1. The concepts of health and sickness overlap
2. Antonovsky proposes an illness/wellness continuum with polar ends of
death/illness/disability v. optimal wellness
a. need to change focus from what makes people sick to what
keeps people well
3. Health = the positive state of physical, mental and social well-being that
varies over time along a continuum
C. Illness Today and in the Past
1. In industrialized nations, people live longer than in past and suffer from
different patterns of illnesses
2. Until this century, people in North America died from mainly dietary and
infectious diseases
a. dietary illnesses: illnesses resulting from malnutrition such as
beriberi (lack of vitamin B1)
b. infectious diseases: acute illnesses caused by harmful matter or
microorganisms (bacteria or viruses); main cause of death in
most of world today; especially lower income developing
countries
3. History of diseases in Canada
a. 18th & 19th centuries: epidemics of smallpox, cholera, diphtheria,
measles and influenza killed thousands, esp. children
, i. such diseases were introduced to America by European
settlers
1) Aboriginals died at high rates due to lack of
previous exposure and natural immunity; lack of
immunity probably due to low degree of genetic
variation
2) exposure to infectious diseases resulted in famine,
social unrest, and population depletion in
aboriginal communities
b. 19th century: infectious diseases were still the greatest threat to
early settlers and new diseases were emerging (e.g.,
tuberculosis)
i. Smallpox epidemic in Montreal led to the formation of a
board of health in Quebec
ii.Tuberculosis was the greatest cause of death in Canada in
1867; death rate declined sharply towards the end of the
century with the introduction of vaccines
iii. cause of decline in death rates for all infectious diseases
can be attributed to preventive measures including:
1) improved personal hygiene
2) better nutrition resulting in greater resistance to
disease
3) public health innovation (e.g., water purification and
sewage treatment facilities)
4) increased personal concern about health and
following advice of health reformers
5) appointment of medical office to oversee health in
Aboriginal communities
th
c. 20 century: death rate due to infectious disease declined and
average life expectancy increased
i. increase in life expectancy at birth from 59 years to 80
years for men and 61 years to 84 years for women
1) life expectancy varies according to region and
ethnicity; lower for some Aboriginal groups
ii. chronic disease leading cause of health problems and half
of all deaths in developed countries
1) definition = degenerative illnesses that develop or
persist over long period of time
2) examples = heart disease, cancer, stroke
3) reasons = increase in industrialization increases
stress and exposure to harmful chemicals; longer
life span places people at higher risk for chronic
disease
2
, 4. Main causes of death across the life span
a. children – accidental injury, cancer, & congenital abnormalities
b. adolescents – accidental injury, homicide, suicide
II. Viewpoints from History: Physiology, Disease Processes, and the Mind
A. Early Cultures
1. Belief that physical and mental illness caused by mystical forces (e.g.,
evil spirits)
a. speculative evidence - use of trephination to allow spirits to
escape
B. Ancient Greece and Rome
1. Hippocrates’ humoral theory
a. health was due to harmony or balance of four humors whereas
illness was the result of an imbalance of bodily fluids
b. health recommendations included good diet, avoiding excesses
to keeps humors in balance
2. Introduction of the mind/body problem
a. Greek philosophers, including Plato, argued that the mind and
body are separate entities (mind has little impact on the body
and its state of health)
3. Influence of Galen
a. believed in humoral theory and mind-body split
b. innovations attributed to Galen - animal dissections to discover
how systems work, localization of illness, and belief that different
disease have different effects
C. The Middle Ages
1. With collapse of Roman Empire, advancement of knowledge and
culture slowed dramatically
2. Impact of the Church on slowing development of medical knowledge
a. prohibition on human and animal dissection
b. belief that creatures with a soul were set apart from ordinary laws
of the universe
3. Illness was believed to be a punishment for sin
3
