With the onset of chronic illness, an individual and family's world, previously taken for granted, is often undone. The actual and potential losses from illness impact on family, friends, physicians, therapists, nurses, and others in profound and unexpected ways. Through his own honest, personal account and the testimony of others, Robert Shuman takes us inside the illness experience to help us better grasp the daily inner lives of the ailing person and his or her family. As our aging population lives longer, chronic illness touches more and more of us. Whether as patient or parent, nurse or spouse, colleague or therapist, we need to have greater knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of chronic illness.Robert Shuman maps out the many dimensions of illness and invites the reader to explore its challenging terrain in a way that provides opportunities for self-discovery and reflection. In lyrical prose, he opens up new ways of thinking about the psychology of illness and healing. He suggests, for example, that illness symptoms can have a generative effect on a person's imaginative and creative possibilities, and that the socially despised events of illness and disability offer new ways of being once sought through the work of religion. Drawing on the fields of behavioral and family medicine, medical anthropology and sociology, moral and bioethical philosophies, and family, existential, cognitive, Jungian, and archetypal psychotherapies, among others, The Psychology of Chronic Illness raises provocative questions for the professional caregiver as well as for those living with illness and disability.This book will help anyone touched by illness, personally or professionally, to support those living with chronic illnesses and disabilities; to cope with multiple impacts on work, relationships, social roles, individual dreams, and disappointments; to listen to and voice suffering and fears, grief and anger, questions of values and moral doubts; and to acknowledge loss and mourning as a “common ground” that we all share. This book offerrs specific resources to the caregiver and aids the professional in his or her ethical obligation to give. Moreover, Shuman's voice is one of compassion, reminding us how to hold on to or recover hope, meaning, and morale during times of affliction and distress.

Many healthcare professionals are focusing their concerns on controlling symptoms and minimizing physical distress while failing to deal with the social and psychological factors related to living with long-term chronic illness. Ariela Royer makes an important contribution to the study of health and illness behavior by showing the various strategies chronically ill people use to manage their symptoms and overcome the consequences of their particular illness, so they can live the most normal life possible and maintain their self-esteem. In spite of a popular belief linking chronic illness mainly to aging, most chronic problems extend across the life span. One of every seven men and one of every eight women between the ages of 17 and 44 are limited in their major activity, their ability to work, keep house or go to school, because of a chronic condition. At ages 65 and over, nearly three-fifths of men and two-fifths of women are handicapped. Dr. Royer shows various strategies the chronically ill may use to live with the uncertainty inherent in chronic illness. She also discusses how one might try to overcome or to minimize the salient social consequences of chronic illness, such as stigma and social isolation, in order to get on with their lives.

Millions of Ghanaians live with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cancers and other major chronic diseases. Millions more are at risk of getting these conditions. Individuals living with chronic conditions experience many disruptions, especially at the early stages of diagnosis and adjustment. The disruptions are physical (medical complications), psychological (depression), material (impoverishment), social (stigma) and spiritual (struggles with faith and trust). These experiences have an impact on family life and resources, with primary caregivers bearing similar disruptions to their chronically ill loved ones. While chronic conditions cannot be cured, many individuals hope for a cure. This hope drives healthcare seeking across different sectors of Ghana’s vibrant pluralistic health system. When ‘hope for a cure’ meets ‘claims to cure’ within the herbalist and faith healing sectors, especially, the outcomes for individuals and their families can be catastrophic. The Ghanaian situation is mirrored in many African countries. It is estimated that African chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) prevalence, morbidity and mortality rates will rise faster than rates in Asia and Latin America over the coming decades. The long term and costly nature of NCDs has major implications for individuals, communities, health systems and governments. In this inaugural lecture, Professor Ama de-Graft Aikins discusses the psychology of chronic disease risk, experience and care in Africa. She makes a case for why the problem of NCDs needs to be examined through a psychological lens. She draws on her independent and collaborative work on diabetes representations and experiences among Ghanaians in Ghana and Europe, and the broader African and global health literature, to highlight the complex multi-level context of chronic disease risk, experience and care. She presents a synthesis of the evidence through the concepts of physical ills and ideological ills, arguing that both are interconnected and, as a result, must be addressed through interdisciplinary approaches. She concludes by offering practical solutions for reducing chronic disease risk and improving the quality of long-term experience and care in Ghana, using examples from countries that have implemented successful NCD interventions.

Chronic childhood disease brings psychological challenges for families & carers as well as the children. Bradford explores how they cope, the psychological & social factors that influence outcomes, & the ways in which services can be improved.

Case studies and extensive session transcriptions further illustrate the process of treating chronic illness."--BOOK JACKET.

`This book is a "must read" for all students of health psychology, and will be of considerable interest and value to others interested in the field. The discipline has not involved itself with the central issues of this book so far, but Radley has now brought this material together in an accessible way, offering important new perspectives, and directions for the discipline. This book goes a long way towards making sense for, and of, health psychology′ - Journal of Health Psychology What are people′s beliefs about health? What do they do when they feel ill? Why do they go to the doctor? How do they live with chronic disease? This introduction to the social psychology of health and illness addresses these and other questions about how people make sense of illness in everyday life, either alone or with the help of others. Alan Radley reviews findings from medical sociology, health psychology and medical anthropology to demonstrate the relevance of social and psychological explanations to questions about disease and its treatment. Topics covered include: illness, the patient and society; ideas about health and staying healthy; recognizing symptoms and falling ill; and the healing relationship: patients, nurses and doctors. The author also presents a critical account of related issues - stress, health promotion and gender differences.

Health psychology is a rapidly expanding discipline at the interface of psychology and clinical medicine. This new edition is fully reworked and revised, offering an entirely up-to-date, comprehensive, accessible, one-stop resource for clinical psychologists, mental health professionals and specialists in health-related matters. There are two new editors: Susan Ayers from the University of Sussex and Kenneth Wallston from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The prestigious editorial team and their international, interdisciplinary cast of authors have reconceptualised their much-acclaimed handbook. The book is now in two parts: part I covers psychological aspects of health and illness, assessments, interventions and healthcare practice. Part II covers medical matters listed in alphabetical order. Among the many new topics added are: diet and health, ethnicity and health, clinical interviewing, mood assessment, communicating risk, medical interviewing, diagnostic procedures, organ donation, IVF, MMR, HRT, sleep disorders, skin disorders, depression and anxiety disorders.

This book examines the effects of various stresses, strains, and traumas in our lives, from the womb till adulthood. The consequences of such stresses are delineated, and this book describes ways of coping with it. Research has demonstrated, repeatedly, that chronic stress may increase unhealthy behavior which may further enhance the development of poor lifestyle habits, substance abuse, or physical inactivity. This may significantly and negatively influence not only our physical wellbeing but emotional one as well. Certain personality traits, like neuroticism for example, is positively correlated with poor physical functioning, greater alcohol consumption as well as increased cigarette smoking. Similarly, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability were shown to significantly affect lifestyle, physical activity, and self-care, and consequently one’s health. The chapters in this volume cover various issues that are related to and influence our health — from how adverse childhood experiences can affect our mental health, resulting in anxiety and heightened stress, how partner violence can cause trauma on the physical and emotional health of its victims to examining the effect of assisted reproductive technology on the mother-child relationship. This book also explores the various ways to cope with the significant stress that we experience daily in our lives, as well as how self-care is important in maintaining good health and in avoiding burnout. This book will be of great value to students, researchers and practitioners of psychology, including health psychology and psychoanalysis. The chapters in this book were originally published in The Journal of Psychology.