Medical psychology and behavioral science
Behaviour, development and mental health for medical practice.
102 pages
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- TopicPsychiatric symptoms caused by medical illness and drugsDepression, anxiety, psychosis or personality change can be the first sign of a body or brain…
- Life stageNormal psychological ageing vs dementiaWith age, thinking slows and recall takes longer, but knowledge and daily independence remain
- ConceptPsychological factors in physical illnessMind and body interact: stress, mood and behavior can bring on or worsen physical illness, and…
- TopicDifficult encounters: anger, demands and boundariesSome encounters are tense; noticing your own reaction, validating the emotion and setting clear…
- ConceptPsychopathology: perception and thought (hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder)The exact words for false perceptions, false beliefs and disordered thinking, and what each one…
- TopicPsychiatric emergencies: agitation, violence risk and the suicidal patientHow to calm an agitated patient safely, judge the risk of violence, approach the suicidal…
- ConceptAdherence: what it is and why it failsAdherence is how far what the patient does matches what was agreed with the care team; in…
- TopicPsychotherapies: which one for whatTalking therapies are not all the same: each has its own idea of what keeps a problem going and…
Areas
- Human development across the life span14 pagesNormal psychological ageing vs dementia · Language development and speech red flags · Primitive reflexes and when they disappear
- Stress, coping and grief7 pagesPsychological factors in physical illness · Normal grief, prolonged grief and depression · The reaction to illness: sick role, illness behavior and hospitalization
- Doctor–patient relationship and communication7 pagesDifficult encounters: anger, demands and boundaries · Breaking bad news: the SPIKES protocol · Health literacy
- Psychiatric assessment and psychopathology7 pagesPsychopathology: perception and thought (hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder) · The mental status examination · Psychopathology: affect, mood, consciousness and memory
- SSomatic treatments and levels of care7 pagesPsychiatric emergencies: agitation, violence risk and the suicidal patient · Consultation-liaison psychiatry · Neuromodulation: TMS, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation and light therapy
- Health behavior and adherence6 pagesAdherence: what it is and why it fails · How to improve adherence · Motivational interviewing
- Psychotherapies6 pagesPsychotherapies: which one for what · Family, group and interpersonal therapy · Cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive distortions
- Learning and behavior5 pagesBehavior therapy: exposure, desensitization, token economy and more · Classical conditioning · Operant conditioning: reinforcement and punishment
- Biological, cultural and historical foundations5 pagesGenetics and neuroimaging of mental disorders · The neurobiology of mental disorders: neurotransmitters and circuits · Culture and mental illness: cultural concepts of distress
- Personality and defense mechanisms4 pagesNeurotic and mature defense mechanisms · Immature defense mechanisms · Personality: traits, the Big Five and Freud's models
- Normal sleep4 pagesNormal sleep across the life span · Sleep stages and their EEG · How sleep is regulated: sleep pressure, the circadian clock and melatonin
- Psychological testing4 pagesScreening questionnaires in primary care · Personality tests: objective and projective · Intelligence testing and IQ
- Psychology of pain3 pagesChronic pain: fear-avoidance, catastrophizing and psychological treatment · The psychology of pain: gate control and the biopsychosocial model · Placebo and nocebo effects
- Addictive behavior3 pagesAddiction concepts: reward, tolerance, dependence and withdrawal · Cues, craving and relapse · Screening and brief intervention (SBIRT) and harm reduction
- Health-worker wellbeing2 pagesCompassion fatigue, moral injury and the second victim · Burnout in health workers
- Other mental disorders18 pagesPsychiatric symptoms caused by medical illness and drugs · Intellectual disability · The human sexual response and the sexual dysfunctions
A to Z
About this section
The human behavior every doctor needs: how a person develops from birth to old age, how behavior is learned, how people cope with stress, illness and grief, how to break bad news and help people change habits, and what each psychotherapy does. Also psychiatric assessment, psychopathology and somatic treatments; disorders with their own page are in Conditions, and every page links them.
Educational content on behavior and the clinical relationship; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for assessment by a health professional. If you or someone near you is at risk, seek help now from an emergency service or a mental-health helpline.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.