Paraskevi Theofilou1,2*
1General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases SOTIRIA, Athens, Greece
2Hellenic Open University, School of Social Sciences, Patra, Greece
*Correspondence author: Paraskevi Theofilou, General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases SOTIRIA, Athens, Greece and Hellenic Open University, School of Social Sciences, Patra, Greece; Email: [email protected]
Published Date: 31-08-2023
Copyright© 2023 by Theofilou P. All rights reserved. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Short Commentary
The interest of the Health Sciences and Psychology in the relationships between illness and a person’s behavior is certainly not late. Questions and concerns about the interaction between a biological disorder and the way one lives, feels, thinks, etc. the person who suffers, have occupied both medicine and clinical-psychological research and practice for many years. But mainly within the framework of a very new interdisciplinary direction (behavioral medicine – Verhal-tensmedizin), a more thorough investigation of the importance of behavior for the genesis and formation of many diseases and disorders – mental and/or physical – began [1,2]. Forerunners of this direction, with which Behavioral Medicine often collaborates even now, are Psychosomatic Medicine and Medical Psychology. These branches of course emphasize the importance of behavioral factors around health and disease issues, but they give different weight to their investigations, they mainly have a different theoretical background and do not deal so thoroughly with the experimental investigation of the importance of behavior for etiology, form, course and treatment of various diseases [1,2].
The interest of the Health Sciences and Psychology in the relationships between illness and a person’s behavior is certainly not late. Questions and concerns about the interaction between a biological disorder and the way one lives, feels, thinks, etc. the person who suffers, have occupied both medicine and clinical-psychological research and practice for many years. But mainly within the framework of a very new interdisciplinary direction (behavioral medicine – Verhal-tensmedizin), a more thorough investigation of the importance of behavior for the genesis and formation of many diseases and disorders – mental and/or physical – began [1,2]. Forerunners of this direction, with which Behavioral Medicine often collaborates even now, are Psychosomatic Medicine and Medical Psychology. These branches of course emphasize the importance of behavioral factors around health and disease issues, but they give different weight to their investigations, they mainly have a different theoretical background and do not deal so thoroughly with the experimental investigation of the importance of behavior for etiology, form, course and treatment of various diseases [1,2].
In the context of behavioral medicine, both psychological and physical factors that affect the person who is ill are taken seriously and equally. So, the controversy surrounding which is the most “correct” model of health or disease is normalized, while a serious attempt is made to equally evaluate the interdependence and complementarity of psychological and physical processes [3]. The importance of this way of thinking can be seen in many examples: in our behavior towards food, smoking, or alcohol consumption, in the way we are (or are not) able to face and process professional and/or emotional adversity (stress) or in our readiness to cooperate with the healers during the phase of restoring our health and so on [4].
It is obvious that the commitment to the therapy that is followed and in general to the medical instructions is an issue of a great importance. There are two dominant theories of adherence: The transtheoretical model of behavior change and the relapse prevention model [5].
The first model supports the view that long-term strategies are needed to maintain healthy behavior and examines how individuals adopt the behavior change process. According to this model, modifying an unhealthy behavior is not achieved in a single phase of change. Instead, individuals go through various phases in their attempt to change their unhealthy habit. The stages of change are as follows [5]:
- The precontemplation stage, where the person has no intention of changing their behavior. In this phase the person still does not recognize the problem even though significant others have become aware of it and remind him of the need to modify his behavior
- The contemplation stage, where the person begins to realize their unhealthy behavior and the problem it creates for their health, but still does not decide to commit to changing it. In this stage, which can last for years, the individual weighs the pros and cons of a potential change
- The preparation stage, where the person recognizes the importance of behavior modification for their health, but hesitates to proceed with change due to previous failed actions to modify the behavior
- The stage of activation (action stage), where the person is activated and manages to modify his behavior, through his commitment to change and the dedication of time and effort to achieve it
- The maintenance stage, where the person tries to maintain healthy behavior and prevent relapse. It is very likely that the person will not be able to maintain the new habit for a long time and will return to earlier stages, as is often the case with drug addicts
As a large percentage of people (50-90%) who have adopted a healthy behavior do not manage to maintain it for a long time and end up relapsing into the problematic habit, as in the case of obesity or substances, a substantial effort to avoid relapse is needed [6].
The second model (the Relapse Avoidance Model) recognizes a wide range of coping skills needed to maintain healthy habits and that these skills include unspecified cognitive, affective and affective behaviors [5]. The possibility of relapse increases in people with progenetic factors, especially in matters of relapse to smoking, alcohol and drug use, in people with severe anxiety, depressed mood or fear of losing control, but also due to environmental conditions that favor relapse (such as social gatherings, parties) [5].
The goal of the Relapse Prevention Model is to enhance the individual’s motivation and commitment to change, factors considered particularly important to avoid relapse. Individuals attempt to assess conditions conducive to relapse and to build coping skills such as self-control and self-efficacy.
The proliferation of models of disease interpretation and treatment programs based on Behavioral Medicine is impressive. Reinecker writes [7]. “It seems that through Behavioral Medicine, new perspectives are emerging, because behavioral medical models are not only aimed at those, we call patients – that is, who suffer from a specific disease – but are of interest to all those who have a direct or indirect relationship with them (doctors, nursing staff, close relatives, community, workplace, etc.) and even all the so-called healthy”.
By changing the attitudes, especially the so-called “healthy” ones – a change both at the cognitive level and at the level of externalized behavior – we will be able to improve the quality of life. So, it must be understood that the behavior, the way one lives, thinks, experiences the world, etc. the so-called “healthy”, is directly related to the creation of diseases. Again, when he develops health problems, it depends to a large extent on him whether his health will be restored (e.g., by controlling body weight the possibility of heart disease is reduced, with proper self-control minimizing reckless use pain relievers etc.) [4].
Keywords: Behavioral Medicine; Cannabis; Health; Medicine; Pain
Conflict of Interest
The author has no conflict of interest to declare.
References
- Centry WD. Handbook of behavioral medicine. New York: Guilford Press. 1984.
- Delprato DJ, McGlynn FD. Innovations in behavioral medicine. Progress in behavior modification. 1986;20:67-122.
- Engel GL. The need for a new medical model: a challenge for biomedicine. Science. 1977;196(4286):129-36.
- Theofilou P. Behavioral medicine: an introduction. Lambert Academic Publishing. 2023.
- Cooper Z, Fairburn CG, Hawker DM. Cognitive-behavioral treatment of obesity: A clinician’s guide. Guilford Press. 2003.
- Bissell P, May CR, Noyce PR. From compliance to concordance: barriers to accomplishing a re-framed model of health care interactions. Social Sci and Med. 2004;58(4):851-62.
- Reinecker H. Grundlagen der Verhaltenstherapie. Beltz: Weinheim. 1987.
Article Type
Short Commentary
Publication History
Accepted Date: 12-08-2023
Accepted Date: 24-08-2023
Published Date: 31-08-2023
Copyright© 2023 by Theofilou P. All rights reserved. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Theofilou P. Behavioral Medicine: A New Perspective in the Field of Health. J Neuro Onco Res. 2023;3(2):1-3.
