Question

identify and describe ONE psycological factor that influences symptom perception

identify and describe ONE psychological factor that influences symptom interpretation .

NOTES

•please make sure this answer is no less than 250 words

• clear english langauge used , paragraphed .

• add examples where you can

• answer question to a university standard .

THANK YOU SO MUCH .

Answer 1

Perception is the process to understand those aspects of observation of the world of things and depend on the nature of observer.Psychological factor which deal with mental process .Perception is a complex mental cognitive process (thinking, problem solving, decision making) through which we have immediate and meaningful knowledge of the present stimulus in the environment.

Psychological factor that influences symptom interpretation ,it depend on the perceiver's expectation and previous knowledge as well as the information available in the stimulus itself.The problem of perception is to understand how the brain/mind extracts accurate stable perceptions of objects and events, from inadequate information.For example-

Stimulus--->sensory Receptor ---->Central Nervous System------>cortical Brain Centers----->Responses

Psychological Noise

In this case, the selected message refers to a stimulus, the sensory receptors of the organism are the encoding devices and the central nervous system is the communication channel, the message is decoded by cortical centers in the brain and the organism's response is the destination.The message also subject to the degrading effects of noise stemming from events both within and outside the observer.

Perception of symptoms i.e Physical, Personal, Social Accommodation to symptoms Breakdown of accommodation due to: 1. Inter-personal crisis 2.Perceived interference with work activities 3. Perceived interference with social/leisure activities 4. Sanctioning by others who insist help be sought 5. Symptoms persist beyond arbitrary time limit set by individual Decision to seek help Lay referral Self-medication Alternative therapies Visit G.P