1. Life is a journey
2. Metaphorical leper
3. Doctor as a life creator
4. Sickness is a rough sea
5. Poor health is a metaphor of God’s punishment
In a lot of these cases metaphors tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies (Quynh Le, 2004). Metaphors have been used in the health field for a very long time, starting at the time of Hippocrates who propounded that there were 4 types of fluids in our bodies and that if there was excess of any one it would lead to ill health, for example,
1. Yellow bile- Jaundice
2. Black bile- Hepatitis
3. Blood – Angina
4. Phlegm – Cold, headaches
In the same way the Spanish metaphor of substances in the body being cold or hot stand in much the same way. However, it was the proposition of the Type A personality theory in the 1950’s that first gave impetus to Health psychology. According to this theory people with the Type A personality were always rushed for time, time-conscious, impatient, business-like and highly competitive. These people were proposed to be more prone to Coronary heart disease than others. Since the time of its proposition this theory has been ridiculed for its lack of scientific basis and was even disproved by Redford Williamson of Duke University who claimed it was only the hostile factors such as anger and hostility that could be linked to CHD and not the personality itself. Since then the Type A personality theory has been acknowledged mainly in pop-psychology and not been given much attention, it however did shed light on the possibility of psychological factors effecting physiological components of a being. For example, studies by Adler et al., and Brondolo et al., have found that lower perceived SES has been linked to worse health as was higher levels of perceived discrimination. This was proved in Brondolo’s study on African-American women who were placed in3 separate situations, namely a delayed flight (non-discriminatory), accused of shop-lifting (Discriminatory) and the tour of a campus (control). It was found that the African American women experienced higher rates of diastolic blood-pressure than European-American women. In another study by Berkman & Syme, 1979 it was found that social isolation could also lead to higher mortality rates. In their famous study in Alameda county, California, it was found that in a sample of 7,000 participants, those with fewer social ties had a higher rate of mortality. This can be foreseen as a major problem in the United States as according to one study in 1985 US citizens had at least 3 confidants but by 2004 that number had reduced to none. It is possible that this lack of communal welfare would result in a higher mortality rate as people become less and less social. Other studies on mice have also found that mice that were isolated had 50% less of an enzyme, 5-alpha reductase type 1 which when in short supply also reduces the level of the hormone which has been found to explain aggressive behavior, perhaps related to anxiety in the isolated mice.
Eating disorders have also been found to be on the rise especially in the US where there are an estimate 5-10 million affected. Bulimia nervosa has been known to be around since the 19th century with it occurring primarily in affluent cultures around the world. Anorexia nervosa on the other hand has been a pretty recent development primarily in the United States where ones SES has been found to be negatively related to ones weight which is the exact opposite for the rest of the world. One conspicuos finding in most studies is that the rates of eating dirorders among African American women are very low in comparison to European American women. They have been found to show satisfaction with their body weigth and appearance despite being highly accultured to American culture. Other studies have found that the more one gets acculturated to American, the smaller one’s waist size gets. In a study conducted on British Kenyan womena nd Asian-Kenyan women, it was found that Asian-Kenyan women preferred a heavier body structure thatn British Kenyans who had acculturated to the british way of thinking. The same was found to be true in the case of Pakistani women who wereliving in the US (Akan & Grilo. 1995). On the other extreme obesity among children and adolescents has also been on the rise with 64% of the US popultaion bring either over-weight or obese and 26% being obese. One major cause for this is the heavy consumption of fast foods, with one study finding that sugar-carbonated drinks being directly related to obesity and children in the US consuming fastfood for at least one meal every day. These factors combined with the lack of exe4rcise has greatly contributed to the problem in the US.
Suicide too is viewed differently in different cultures of the world, with some believing suicide in the form of martyrdom to show courage and love for ones country or faith. This trend which began with the Kamakaze in Japan during WWII has been seen to be recurring in the eastern world within the realms of the Taliban. Suicide as a means to protect family fame within Japan was also highly accepted until the 1990’s when light was shed on a large number of disturbing cases of abuse. Hara Kiri which is a form of honour killing among the Samuri warriors was also popular and was bveing committed by business men at the time of recession as a way to regain the fame of their families. Lovers suicide, mother-child suicide, even whole family suicide was popular and accepte within Japanese culture until the 1990’s and in some places it still persisits (Kayoko Ueno, 2004).
Religion has found to playa major role in determining suicide rates. In countries with religion that strictly prohibit suicide such as Islam, Jewism, and Hinduism the rates of suicide are much lower. In the same way it has been found that African Americans had a significantly lower chance of commiting suicide if they were regular church goers than if they were not. A lot depends on not just your perception of life but also of death. Many believe that if God is calling, you cannot say no.
by
dineshkrishnamoorthy (student)
