Psychology Assignment: Exploring Addiction, Health, and Skin Cancer

This psychology assignment delves into three key areas of health psychology: addiction, diabetes, and skin cancer. The first section analyzes a case study on smoking addiction, exploring the interviewee's reasons for smoking, the influence of peer pressure, and the effects of smoking. The second section focuses on managing Type 2 diabetes, examining a patient's non-compliance with medical advice and offering a self-care plan involving dietary changes, exercise, and stress management. The final section addresses skin cancer, discussing its causes, such as exposure to ultraviolet light and X-rays, and outlining preventive measures for different age groups, including wearing protective clothing and regular body examinations. The assignment draws on various research papers to support the analysis and recommendations.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
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PSYCHOLOGY 2
Question 1
Graffigna et al., (2014) says that, smoking is an addictive habit from the confession of the
interviewee. It starts with smaller steps but ends up to be a serious matter that is hard to end. The
smoker says that he started due to some stressful issues that he was facing from the family
members. Consequently, the above reason is inevitable. Smoking, whether it a cigarette, bhang
or other drug is influenced by personal problems or by family problems. The smoker admits that
when he smokes, he tends to forget all his problem and join a world free of stress and any other
form of mind distortion. Moreover, smoking makes him able to interact with other colleagues
smoothly without feeling neglected at some point. The above confession is also true to some
extent since peer pressure also leads to the smoking habit of an individual. However, the above
reason contradicts some other reasons according to Montes et al., (2016). For instance, the habit
of smoking of an individual develops due to lack of morals and guidance in the society or where
the individual lives. It is an act that is generally condemned in the society and those who
continue with such behaviors are regarded to be immoral. The interview admits that he had tried
to stop smoking at some point but all was in vain. It reaches a point that he feels the thirst and
without taking a puff, he finds it difficult to carry out the daily activities efficiently. There are
several effects of smoking as admitted b the interviewee. Swanson et al., (2017) argues that, the
first effect is that it causes addiction. Apart from that, it causes some health problems such as the
rise of other diseases, difficulty in breathing among other issues.
Question 2
Wilkinson et al., (2014) says that, developing a self-care for one that suffers from
diabetes II is a key issue in managing the disease. Thomas, have a problem with not following
what the doctors direct him to do every time he visits the hospital. The type 2 diabetes needs the

PSYCHOLOGY 3
close checkup and supports from other caregivers. From the confession of Thomas’ doctor, it
seems that in order to manage the disease, other individuals like the family members should be
involved to ensure that the management of the disease is at pace. The first step in managing the
Thomas case is that he must improve the diet in order to manage the high insulin level as
complained by the doctor. The best combination for the patient food is the meals such as lean
meats, frozen fruit, whole grains, beans and other non-starchy vegetables such as the carrots. The
above diet will balance with the high insulin and assist in improving the status of Thomas. The
second thing is that he must avoid fat foods at this moment. Most of the refined foods have a lot
of fats in them and would continue to worsen the health status of Thomas. The other thing is that
Thomas should engage in activities that assist him to lose the weight. A big belly may have
developed at this particular moment and therefore a lot of exercise activities is needed so that,
the extra fats can be burnt to other forms. Another important thing is that there should be a way
to manage stress at this particular moment. The family members should not neglect Thomas but
accompany him with support to manage the diabetes condition. Lastly, Thomas should avoid
drugs such as alcohol as they may worsen the health status.
Question 3
Skin cancer is a serious problem that has been affecting people of various ages. However,
it is high time that the community at large should find ways of dealing with the challenge. The
first thing is that people must be aware of the causes of skin cancer to prevent it early. The
causes of skin cancer are of various types. The first cause is the exposure to ultraviolet light
according to Churpek & Godley, (2016). The light affects the skin quickly and mostly those who
are living at the equator. Another factor is the exposure to x-rays that directly enters the skin,
suppressed immune system and when having a history of skin cancer among other factors. There

PSYCHOLOGY 4
are ways of managing and preventing the skin cancer at various levels. For instance, in the case
of newly born children, they should not be exposed to the direct sunlight as this would cause
body burn. The direct sunlight is mostly strong between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 pm and therefore at
this time no child should be exposed according to Renehan et al., (2016). On the other hand, for
the case of adolescents and adults, they should continuously wear protective wearing which
includes hats that are wide-brimmed and covers the parts of the face, neck and also ears.
Consequently, there is an important activity for all the groups that are examining the body
regularly. When one pays regular visits to the medical officer, the effect can be identified early
and early steps are taken as early as possible. Lastly, both children and adults should refrain from
sunbathing as it has effects on the skin of an individual. It is easy to prevent the disease at an
early stage, however, when it is late the individual should only abide by the doctor’s
recommendations.

PSYCHOLOGY 5
References
Churpek, J. E., & Godley, L. A. (2016). How I diagnose and manage individuals at risk for
inherited myeloid malignancies. Blood, blood-2016.
Graffigna, G., Barello, S., Libreri, C., & Bosio, C. A. (2014). How to engage type-2 diabetic
patients in their own health management: implications for clinical practice. BMC public
health, 14(1), 648.
Montes, R. A., Mocarzel, L. O., Lanzieri, P. G., Lopes, L. M., Carvalho, A., & Almeida, J. R.
(2016). Smoking and its association with morbidity in systemic lupus erythematosus
evaluated by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College
of Rheumatology Damage Index: preliminary data and systematic review. Arthritis &
Rheumatology, 68(2), 441-448.
Renehan, A. G., Harvie, M., Cutress, R. I., Leitzmann, M., Pischon, T., Howell, S., & Howell, A.
(2016). How to manage the obese patient with cancer. Journal of Clinical
Oncology, 34(35), 4284-4294.
Swanson, E., Scott, E., & Thomas, M. (2017). Smoking and its effects on postpartum
depression. ADVANCES in pharmacy, 1(1).
Wilkinson, A., Whitehead, L., & Ritchie, L. (2014). Factors influencing the ability to self-
manage diabetes for adults living with type 1 or 2 diabetes. International journal of
nursing studies, 51(1), 111-122.