HOW DO PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECT PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH?

Frequent depression, stress, and fears that prevent people from carrying out their
normal activities are topics that would interest a health psychologist, a clinical psychologist,
and a counseling psychologist. Health psychology explores the relationship
between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease. For example, health
psychologists are interested in assessing how long-term stress (a psychological factor)
can affect physical health and in identifying ways to promote behavior that brings
about good health.
Clinical psychology deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological
disorders. Clinical psychologists are trained to diagnose and treat problems that
range from the crises of everyday life, such as unhappiness over the breakup of a
relationship, to more extreme conditions, such as profound, lingering depression.
Some clinical psychologists also research and investigate issues that vary from identifying
the early signs of psychological disturbance to studying the relationship
between family communication patterns and psychological disorders.
Like clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists deal with people’s psychological
problems, but the problems they deal with are more specific. Counseling psychology
focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems.
Almost every college has a center staffed with counseling psychologists. This is
where students can get advice on the kinds of jobs they might be best suited for, on
methods of studying effectively, and on strategies for resolving everyday difficulties,
such as problems with roommates and concerns about a specific professor’s grading
practices. Many large business organizations also employ counseling psychologists
to help employees with work-related problems.