Depression and physical illness are intimately related. Depressed mood is thought to contribute to the development and progression of some illnesses, while physical illness can in turn increase the risk of depression. This book provides a critical overview of the evidence linking depression with several major health conditions, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, disability, chronic fatigue and obesity. It also explores the biological and behavioural processes underlying the association, discussing the role of neuroendocrine, immunological and inflammatory pathways, and the relationship between depression and health behaviours such as smoking, physical activity and adherence to medical advice. It combines a thorough analysis of the clinical, biological and epidemiological data with guidance to health professionals and patients on how to manage depression in people suffering from physical illness, pointing the way to an integrated approach to health care.
Understanding the links between the social environment, emotion, behaviour and illness is a growing theme in medical and health education. The development of the field is reflected in the growth of disciplines such as health psychology, psychosocial epidemiology, and behavioural medicine. The basic literature is however awkwardly dispersed across medical and social science journals. This book makes available within a single volume some of the most important articles that have been published over the past thirty years. The thirty-one articles are grouped round six themes: life stress, social support and health; psychophysiological processes in disease; personality, behaviour patterns and health; health practices and the modification of health risk behaviour; coping with illness and disability; behavioural interventions in medicine. Each is prefaced by a state-of-the-art review of the theme by the editors. These readings will serve as a most valuable resource for psychology and health sc
Mozart's collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte led to the composition of three of the great masterpieces of opera. This book, designed to guide the reader to a deeper understanding and
The health effects of psychosocial factors are a widely discussed and controversial topic. Do positive and negative emotions affect our risk of developing physical disease? Are depressive individuals
Behavioral medicine emerged in the 1970s as the interdisciplinary field concerned with the integration of behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical science knowledge relevant to the understanding of he
