What are people's beliefs about health? What do they do when they feel ill? Why do they go to the doctor? How do they live with chronic disease? This introduction to the social psychology of health & illness addresses these & other questions about how people make sense of illness in everyday life, either alone or with the help of others. Alan Radley reviews findings from medical sociology, health psychology & medical anthropology to demonstrate the relevance of social & psychological explanations to questions about disease & its treatment. Topics covered include: illness, the patient & society; ideas about health & staying healthy; recognizing symptoms & falling ill; & the healing relationship: patients, nurses & doctors. The author also presents a critical account of related issues
- stress, health promotion & gender differences.