Multifactorial Model Of Health And Illness

Many factors go into determining health and illness. There are psychological factors, sociocultural factors, environmental factors and also the stressors in your life. It’s interesting how many health problems are affected by psychological factors like emotions and attitudes, not just behavior. In today’s time, it is vital to consider all contributing factors to health and illness since there is no single answer that simplifies why an individual becomes ill or remains healthy. Your psychological state can also affect the efficiency of your immune system. Anxiety and depression are two examples. With a lower immune system, we are more susceptible to physical problems like infections. If we can identify and treat the emotional problems, it will
This model covers a range of issues that can affect our susceptibility to illness and our health. Some factors we have control of and some we do not. The multifactorial model shows us the likelihood of illness and the many factors involved from genetics to our lifestyles. Biological factors , including family history of illness, exposure to infectious organisms, inoculations, medication history and birth complications are one cub-category of factors as well as sociocultural: (socioeconomic status, family circumstances, access to health care, prejudice and discrimination); environmental: (architectural features, aesthetics of residential, workplace, water quality, pollution and natural disasters; (personality: seeking (or avoiding) information about health risks, self-efficacy expectations, psychological hardiness or conflict, optimism or pessimism and depression or anxiety); (behavior: diet, level of physical activity, sleep patterns, interpersonal or social skills and safety practices); stressors: ( daily hassles, major life changes, death of a close family member, frustration, pain and
Headaches are the most common stress-related physical complaint. The two most mentioned are migraine and muscle-tension headaches. During the first step of the general adaptation syndrome, the person experiences contractions in the muscles in their shoulders, neck and forehead and scalp. When this type of stress persists, it will lead to muscle-tension headaches. In the multifactorial model, people who have the predisposition to catastrophize events will experience tension headaches. Besides tension headaches, people also commonly experience migraine headaches. Migraine headaches affect one out of every 10 Americans, approximately 28 million people. Migraine headaches are caused by the change of blood flow to the brain which could be affected by imbalances in serotonin in the brain. Migraine headaches can last for days and cause vision problems, sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting, and loss of balance. Both psychological and physical factors can trigger migraine headaches such as stress, bright lights, pollen, or foods. Migraine, muscle-tension, and other reoccurring headaches are considered stressors and without proper treatment could cause psychological and physical health issues. An individual could stop interacting socially, resort to drugs or alcohol, and develop heart disease. Environmental, biological, behavioral and psychological factors all influence