PSYC203 Lecture Notes - Snowball Sampling, Myalgia, Retrovirus
27 Oct 2013
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Document Summary
We often interact with people who are ill. We will most likely become ill during our lifetime. One or more somatic symptoms causing distress or disruption of daily life = functional impairment. It is not just a specific symptom that needs to last. Person has minute or no symptoms but believe they do. Can be applied to beliefs about: somatised conditions. E. g. panic attacks = heart attacks: mental health conditions. E. g. major depression: diagnosed physical condition. E. g. heart attach: potential physical conditions. Can be applied to beliefs of: people with the condition, health professionals, others. Affects 1 in 1000 people: mostly women, nine times as many women than men. It recognises its own cells as foreign: body is attacking its own cells, can become terminal illness if not diagnosed soon enough, unclear cause. Onset often slow with non-specific symptoms: e. g. fatigue, muscle ache. Photosensitivity to sunlight: causes mild-severe rashes, even in winter.
