Psychology of Health in the Workplace Essay

Health and psychology by some might seem to be intertwined as one and the same; by others health and psychology are two separate aspects in ones life. Ones physical health can depend on many things for example gender, family history and dynamics, stress, type of career and what type of environment one lives in. If one lives near a coal mine and works at the mine they may experience respiratory issues, depression and possibly post traumatic stress syndrome from working underground in a dangerous situation for long periods of time. Physicians have very stressful jobs, one subspecialty that is reputed to be extremely stressful are neonatologists. Many work under severely stressful conditions and over a 5-year period suffer some type of stress-related illness. Having worked for a group of neonatologists it was evident that they all experienced high levels of stress and many-experienced career burn out. They loved what they did but knew that after a period of time they would have to change specialties. Understanding that their choice in careers at some point would affect their physical and mental health. The brain is a powerful thing; power of the mind is an amazing thing when one is sick or feeling down. Having a positive attitude towards life and ones health at times can be better than medicine. I have personally witnessed the difference in patients that are receiving chemo treatment and the differences in there mental attitudes. The ones that have a good positive attitude seem to do much better than the patients with negative attitudes, they seem to complain more and just over all have a hard time. The positive attitude patients seem to do they best they can to keep their lives normal doing as they did before. Knowing that they will experience bad days and making the most out of the days they feel better. I watched the movie Soul Surfer about the young girl who was attacked by a shark while surfing and lost an arm. It was an amazing story on how she recovered keeping an amazing attitude towards life. She trained to surf again with her disability winning a competition. She did not sit back and feel sorry for herself; she pushed herself to accomplish her goals. Health and psychology in the work place is about the choices we make with our career choice. With the economy the way it is today it is tough for many people. Those that have jobs may be over worked due to cutbacks and maybe unhappy or stressed out. Stress can cause many health issues such as high blood pressure, depression, headaches, lack of motivation and lack of energy. For the people without jobs possibly living on unemployment or not receiving an income at all can be devastating. The feeling of helplessness, low self esteem and depression can take a drastic toll on one both physically and emotionally. This can cause major health issues as well, knowing your depressed and trying to get out of that state of mind can be very difficult. To prevent illness and enhance ones life to a healthier way of living sometimes may take a total life style change. Exercise is a very important part even if it is just walking 15 minutes a day. By exercising the body produces chemicals that work like an antidepressant making one feel happy and better about themselves. Changing ones eating habits, eating more fruits and vegetable staying away from sugars and starch. If a person is overweight and they change their diet and see they are losing a few pounds can give them the motivation to continue. With a positive attitude thing’s that may have stressed one out before may seem not as important now. Do things to try and reduce the stress level at work as well as at home, leave a little time in the day to just unwind. Something’s we cannot change but what we can change is how we handle them whether it is part of the job or a person one has to deal with. Look at things outside of the box; if the way it is being handled isn’t working then try another way.