Psychological Concerns in Medicine - Essay Example

Running head: Psychological concerns in medicine Psychological Concerns In APA Format Medicine is one of the branches of Health Science; the aim of medicine is to maintain human health. This aim is fulfilled by the treatment of various diseases and injuries. This purely comes under the area of knowledge. Medicine can also be called applied knowledge, in the sense that knowledge which is applied to cure various diseases and disorders. Even though this is supposed to be a very clean area of science where things hardly go wrong sill one can find many issues and concerns these days in the same field. This paper will throw light upon the issues and concerns, precisely the Psychological concerns in medicine. Pain management is one of the biggest psychological concerns in the field of medicine, there are so many herbal as well as other medicines which help patients in difficult circumstances, but almost all the people lose their composure when in pain. Like in so many divisions of medicine, it is also seen lately that doctors have become experts in treatment of pain. These doctors study about pain inside out, "studying what causes it, how the body reacts to it, how different medications dull or eliminate the pain, and how other treatments can be used to relieve many painful conditions." (American Society, September 2, 2008). These doctors are very good at diagnosis and are very efficient when it comes to pain management provided the patient goes to a trusted Doctor. Pain doctors collect all the necessary details required to know about the pain and then they produce results by curing the patient's pain within very less time. There are many treatments for pain, some of the most used treatments are through injections, the affected area is injected with appropriate medicine and pain is taken care of. The next most widely used treatment is the nerve block, in which the plexus better know as the bunch of nerves are blocked by anesthesia and the patient gets relief. Acupuncture comes next, this hails from the Chinese culture, very thin needles are used in this procedure at specific points and the people who do this undergo rigorous training. Some other methods include surgery, various therapies and offering psychological support to the patient. Psychological support can also help a lot and can make a person feel much better; this treatment should always be used because this is one of the best treatments a patient can ever get. Sadness and depression is another psychological concern in the field of medicine, sadness and depression can happen for more reasons than one, for instance lets take an example of a lady who has just recovered form cancer, she might end up sad and depressed because of the shape of her body, appearance does matter to an extent and contributes in a very big way in forming our personality. Even suicide also is a very big concern, suicide also is just like sadness and depression or it is fair to put it this way that sadness and depression triggers off the feeling of suicide in a person. Suicide also can be committed for many reasons for instance if a person knows that he/she is suffering from a deadly disease like AIDS or cancer, it is so often seen in such cases that the patients decide to give up their life, so considering all this it is very fair to say that suicide, sadness and depression are major psychological issues or concerns in medicine. Sadness and depression can also trigger off series of other dysfunctions, for instance a cancer patient feels sad during intercourse, and the same will also contribute towards sexual dysfunction. The people who suffer from deadly diseases may face low self esteem and many other problems. Psychological issues often prove fatal and end up taking the life of so many people and this happens very frequently. Anxiety and depression among children is common, but when it reaches an alarmingly high level, it becomes a big psychological concern. It is often treated by psychotherapy, which involves diagnosis; to know exactly what the situation is which is very important because without knowing the actual situation of a person, the appropriate treatment is just not possible. Counseling also plays a very big role in treating this disorder; a doctor has to connect well with the patient and quickly form a good bond between him/her and the patient. Parenting support is the most efficient way to cure such a disorder, parents play a vital role in the life of children and their behavior has a huge impact on the psychology of their child, so considering all this they can easily handle such a problem. There are many specific terms and one among those is TOP better known as the triumph over phobia, , this includes many things for instance, if a person is panicky by nature, he/she is believed to be suffering from this disorder, if a person is scared of eating out, if he/she has a fear of patients, Excessive hand washing, checking anything too frequently all these are some of many symptoms of this disorder. Triumph over phobia is an organization which aims at removing disorders in people. This is an UK based organization which helps people in overcoming their fears. There are numerous psychological concerns which arise when a woman chooses to go in for a breast augmentation, "Breast augmentation patients do not have a poorer overall self-image, nor are they more self-critical and preoccupied with their appearance than other women," said Mary McGrath, MD, ASPS Member Surgeon and study author. "It appears it is their significant dissatisfaction with their breasts that serves as the motivation for surgery, not a poor overall body image." ( Medical news today, September 2,2008). Though there are many positive effects of this surgery for instance, a woman faces less embarrassment compared to what she use to face earlier but on the other hand the same also gives rise to many psychological concerns, there are many concerns like a high possibility of cancer, because of the silicon used in the process, the women bacomes more vulnerable to getting cancer of many types not only the breat cancer but cervical, vulvar, lung and many more types of cancers. At present, there is no convincing evidence that breast implants alter the risk of cancer," said Louise Brinton, Ph.D., NCI, and study author. "The few increases in risk that have been noted in studies appear to be largely attributable to lifestyle characteristics of the women, such as smoking, rather than the implants." ( Medical news today, September 2,2008). Another major psychological concern which arises from the breast implant is the high probability of the silicon being passed on to the child of the woman, who underwent breast implant, this happens when the process of breast feeding takes place. The silicon can prove to be very dangerous for a child's growth. "More than 329,000 breast augmentations were performed in 2006, according to the ASPS. For the first time since ASPS began collecting statistics in 1992, breast augmentation was the top cosmetic surgical procedure performed." ( Medical news today, September 2,2008). Drug abuse is another very big pschological concern in the field of medicine. Drug abuse can ba defined as "Use becomes abuse when it continues despite persistent or recurrent social, occupational, psychological or physical problems caused by or made worse by this use. Use before driving a car or engaging in other activities that are dangerous when under the influence of a psychoactive substance also qualifies as abuse. The transition from use to abuse is often gradual, and there is no clear threshold for defining the point at which use becomes abuse. Frequency and quantity of use are important considerations, as is the extent to which drug use has become a regular feature of one's lifestyle." (Drug Use, September 2, 2008). Drug usage can be defined in 3 terms. First is drug use, in this case an individual takes drugs occasionally and this is also the starting phase of addiction. In the first stage an individual just tries out the drug to get the feel of it and in later stages the same becomes an addiction. The second stage is called as abuse, drugs become part and parcel in the life of an individual and he/she finds it really hard to survive without it. This affects the life of an individual to a great extent and hampers growth and progress in the life of the individual consuming it. The last and the most advanced stage is called Dependence, as the name suggests, the individual becomes heavily an addict and at this stage a rehab is a must to get over this deadly addiction. In the last case the individual starts taking drugs in a large quantity and in many cases it causes death. The same impacts the life of the Peron and his/her downfall happens within the blink of an eye. There are treatments available for dug addiction. In the case of drugs that affect psychological processes another drug is provided to the patient which blocks the desire of consuming drugs, this may be in the form of a chewing gum for tobacco addicts and it varies depending upon the severity of the patient. There are many therapies which are used to cure the same. For instance counseling sessions are provided to the patient in order to bring a positive change in his/her condition. The process aims at making the patient learn new ways of avoiding drugs, this way the patient recovers from drug addiction. References Drug Use. In RF-WEB. Retrieved on September 2, 2008 from: http://rf-web.tamu.edu/security/secguide/Eap/Drugs.htm#Why%20People%20Abuse%20Drugs The Management of Pain. In Asahq.org. Retrieved on September 2, 2008 from: http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation/managepain.htm Radwick Psychology. In Radwick Psychology. Retrieved on September 2, 2008 from: http://www.randwickpsychologycentre.com/index.php/therapists/ ASPS Studies. In Medical News Today. Retrieved on September 2, 2008 from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92988.php Read More