What Is Medical Psychology?

Medical psychology (medical psychology) studies the psychological problems in the diagnosis, treatment, nursing, and prevention of diseases, and serves people's health. It includes branches of pathological psychology, clinical psychology, pharmacological psychology, nursing psychology, mental health consulting, and psychotherapy. ^[1]

Medical psychology

(Branch of psychology)

Medical psychology (medical psychology) studies the psychological problems in the diagnosis, treatment, nursing, and prevention of diseases, and serves people's health. It includes branches of pathological psychology, clinical psychology, pharmacological psychology, nursing psychology, mental health consulting, and psychotherapy. ^[1]

Medical psychology has not yet reached a consensus. At present, many domestic authors believe that medical psychology is an emerging discipline combining psychology and medicine, and it is the study of the relationship between psychological variables and physical health, or the study of psychological factors in health and disease and their mutual transformation. The science that plays a role in the process.

Some people once thought that medical psychology is the application of psychology in medicine, and is therefore a branch of psychology. But this view seems narrower in our country. It should be said that medical psychology is both a branch of medicine and a branch of psychology. For example, from the branch of medicine, medical psychology studies the psychological behavior problems in medicine, such as the psychological behavior characteristics of various patients, the psychological behavior changes of various diseases, etc .; from the branch of psychology, how does medical psychology research Apply the systematic knowledge and technology of psychology to all aspects of medicine, including how to apply psychological knowledge and technical issues in the course of disease.

Because medical psychology studies topics between medicine and psychology, it has been proposed that it can also be called psychological medicine. However, medical psychology focuses on the research of relatively normal behaviors. The research on severe abnormal behaviors in medicine (also psychomedicine) is mainly included in the scope of psychiatry research.

Medical Psychology is an applied discipline that studies, diagnoses, treats, and prevents mental disorders and human physical and mental diseases and related problems from a medical point of view. It is called Medical Psychology in the United Kingdom and is synonymous with Psychiatry in the United States. It is synonymous with Clinical Psychology, but the emphasis of various discipline names or The historical orientation of the research is different.

Medical psychology is the product of applying psychological theories, methods, and techniques to medical practice, and it is a marginal subject combining medicine and psychology. It has both the nature of science and nature of society, including basic theory, practical application technology, and objective experiments. Medical psychology has the characteristics of both psychology and medicine. It studies and solves all psychological problems of human beings in the process of health or illness and their mutual transformation, that is, the role of psychological factors in the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases . Such as how to overcome excessive anxiety, how to eliminate depression, how to establish a harmonious relationship between doctors and patients, and so on.

Medical psychology has the characteristics of both psychology and medicine. It studies and solves all the psychological problems of human beings in health or illness, and in the process of mutual transformation. Its task is to combine the knowledge of psychology with

In 1852, the German medical scientist and philosopher Lotze wrote the first monograph in history named "Medical Psychology", which marked the rise of modern medical psychology. Lotze inherited and developed Fechner's mind-body agreement, focusing on the relationship between health, disease, and "psychological life." In 1887, Feng Te discussed in his "Handbook of Medical Physics" the use of experimental methods to study the psychological problems of people in the medical process. Later, Carter and Wittmer, Font students, introduced their doctrine to the United States and made it develop rapidly.

In 1896, Witmer established the first psychological clinic for treating "problem children" at the University of Pennsylvania, and first adopted the term clinical psychology. Since then, there have been many representatives of various schools in the world that have a significant influence on the development of medical psychology, such as Szechenov, Freud, Pavlov, Wolfe, Cannon, Zellieu, etc. . Since the middle of the 20th century, with the penetration of information theory into various disciplines and the development of behavioral sciences, the research field of medical psychology has been expanding and it has increasingly shown strong vitality.

Human psychology and behavior are inseparable from an individual's genetic qualities, development and external influences, education and training, and his personal experience is an interactive process of interaction with groups. Therefore, we must understand human health and diseases from the interaction between the subject and the environment, arrange treatment and health care measures, and clarify that all disease processes show the interaction of psychological and physiological processes in time and space.

With the widespread application of psychological knowledge and technology in medicine, medical psychology has gradually formed some branches, such as those focused on psychiatry

The research content of medical psychology is relatively extensive, and almost all medical fields have medical psychology research content. To sum up, there are roughly the following aspects: study the biological and sociological basis of psychological behavior and its significance in health and disease; study the rules and mechanisms of psychosomatic interaction; study the psychological behavior in various diseases Changes and their impacts; Study the influences and laws of psychological and behavioral factors such as emotions and personality in the process of health maintenance, disease occurrence, development and change; Study how to apply psychological knowledge and technology to disease treatment, disease prevention and health The purpose of health.

From the perspective of medical psychology, a healthy person's psychophysiological activities and the external environment must be harmonious and unified; various psychological activities and coping behaviors must be coordinated and balanced; their personality characteristics must be able to be expressed in all behaviors Be appropriate and coherent. In medical practice, medical psychology emphasizes the view of the interaction between psychology and physiology, draws on the research results of modern science, guides and improves the links of diagnosis, treatment, nursing, prevention, health care, etc., and directs and improves medical education, medical management and other tasks. The research content of medical psychology is quite extensive. It involves the whole process of individual growth, from the formation of a new life, to the early training and training of marrying young children, and the psychosomatic education and behavior guidance in adolescence and youth, from psychosomatic health at all ages to the longevity of recreation and longevity. It also involves the mutual transformation process of health and disease, from cause analysis, disease diagnosis, therapeutic care to rehabilitation, preventive health care, counseling, and so on.

Medical psychology mainly explores the mediating mechanisms of physical diseases caused by psychological factors; the analysis and psychological diagnosis of psychological variations caused by brain tissue damage, endocrine disorders or physical disorders; the role of personality characteristics in suffering various diseases and the process of rehabilitation; the rationality of psychological treatment Arrangements and effects are determined; promotion and discussion of mental health at all ages; implementation of psychological care and counselling; coordination and cooperation between medical psychology and other disciplines.

In the application of medical psychology, like educational psychology, industrial psychology, and sports psychology, the systematic knowledge of psychology, including its theory, technology, methods, and research results, is combined with medical practice and applied to various medical departments Such as general hospitals, specialty medicines, mental hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, rehabilitation hospitals; health rooms of factories, schools and institutions, primary health centers, health and epidemic prevention agencies at all levels, child behavior guidance centers, and adolescent health service centers; also apply to the seabed , High-altitude, voyage, desert, mining and other special occupational groups and vocational schools, blind and deaf schools, special children's schools, work schools and prisons. In short, it has to solve various psychological problems that affect people's physical and mental health.

The research tasks of medical psychology are:

I. Study the role of psychological factors in the occurrence, development and change of various diseases

Medical psychology believes that we must adhere to a unified mind-body perspective on human health and disease. According to the mind-body unity, diseases can be classified into the following three types:

The first type of disease: the causative factors directly or firstly affect the brain, and the pathological changes are mainly in the brain. Although the degree of psychiatric symptoms is different, it is generally obvious. Such diseases mainly include some diseases related to brain damage in neurology and most diseases in psychiatry.

In these diseases, psychological factors are sometimes the main causative factors, and sometimes they are the predisposing factors. For example, in neurosis and reactive psychosis; psychological factors are the main causative factors; in schizophrenia and certain brain organic psychosis, psychological factors are the predisposing factors. The pathogenesis of brain diseases is still a more complex problem that needs to be further clarified. Environmental factors and genetic factors are usually used as representatives of the etiology. The so-called environmental factors refer to external pathogenic factors: mechanical (such as trauma), physical (such as high temperature, low temperature, electric shock, radiation), chemical (such as organic and inorganic chemicals), biological (such as bacteria) , Viruses, fungi, parasites), social (such as conflicts caused by interpersonal relationships, work, study, life). The so-called genetic factors, in a broad sense, refer to the biological pathogenic factors of an individual, including physical fitness, quality, metabolic types, and characteristics of response to stimuli. The external social pathogenic factors are reflected in the human brain and become psychological stimulating factors. Whether these psychological stimuli can become psychological causative factors also depends on the individual's subjective evaluation, attitude, past accumulated knowledge, experience and coping ability. Therefore, when analyzing the etiology and pathogenesis of brain diseases, we can often observe that psychological and biological factors play a role in each other. Because the lesion is in the brain, various psychological processes such as perception, attention, memory, thought, emotion, emotion, and will action can present different degrees of obstacles. If self-consciousness is also impaired, the relationship between oneself and the environment cannot be understood, and various psychological activities will be disturbed and the unity will be destroyed, which will be manifested as symptoms of mental illness.

The second type of disease: the causative factors directly or indirectly affect the organs of the body other than the brain. Although the pathological changes mainly occur in various organs, in the patient's symptoms, there are generally psychological disorders, and some also show varying degrees of Mental symptoms.

Such diseases include most diseases in clinical departments except for neurological diseases and brain diseases and psychiatric diseases. Although the causative factors are mainly physical, chemical or biological, psychological factors also play varying degrees in the pathogenesis. The diseases in which psychological factors play an important role are called psychosomatic diseases. Many diseases in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT, and stomatology have been recognized as psychosomatic diseases.

Psychological factors play an important role not only in the causative factors, but also in the symptoms of the disease, that is, patients suffering from such diseases show more or less a certain degree of psychological disorders. A high level of psychological tension often manifests itself as an emotional experience of the illness. For example, there is a sense of dying at the onset of angina pectoris, and there is a sense of horror when you learn that you have an incurable disease, and sometimes even have mental symptoms such as doubt and confusion. Even if no obvious psychological factors are found in the causative factors, when the patient affects brain function due to infection, poisoning or fever, mental symptoms such as confusion, fear, audiovisual hallucinations, or victim delusion will occur.

Clinical departments generally do not separate psychosomatic diseases from other diseases. Many hospitalized patients have varying degrees of psychological response. For example, in 83 hospitalized medical patients in a hospital, 63% had subjective anxiety, 42% had anxiety symptoms, 36% had loneliness, 31% had varying degrees of despair, 23% had emotional depression, and some even had suicidal ideas. It can be seen that psychological disorders in patients with physical diseases are quite common.

The third type of disease: most of the causative factors are physical and chemical factors that directly affect organs in the body. Pathological changes are obvious local organ or tissue damage. The different psychological states of patients after the disease affect the disease process, and some still Creates obvious psychological barriers.

Such diseases account for a small part of clinical departments, such as sudden trauma, fractures, burns, poisoning, etc. As the causative factor, psychological factors are not involved. However, the psychological stress caused by the patient's personality and subjective evaluation of the disease, or secondary psychological causes, affects the course of the disease. This secondary psychological stimulation can affect the healing process of the original disease. For example: A patient with a tibial fracture caused by a car accident is totally unprepared for external injuries and its consequences. Once faced with the following difficult situations, such as the problems of hospitalization expenses, disability, and work prospects, a very complicated psychology will occur. Negative states such as anxiety, irritability, and depression will affect the blood circulation of the lower limbs and delay the healing process. Another example is the psychological state of patients before major surgery, which often affects whether the surgical procedure is smooth, the postoperative response is serious, and the postoperative healing process. Patients with mild anxiety before surgery reflect normal psychological adaptation of the patient and good surgical results; if the anxiety is severe, it reflects the patient's high psychological tension and poor surgical results; some patients have no major complaints of anxiety but have palpitations and sweating. Symptoms, this is a manifestation of a strong man who suppresses his inner fear, which will affect the psychological adaptation after surgery and the effect is not good. Some patients are blindly optimistic and lack sufficient mental preparation for the risk of surgery, the possibility of postoperative complications, and the arduousness of rehabilitation. Once such situations occur, they often cause serious psychosomatic reactions. Patients' negative or negative psychological activities before and after surgery often affect the functional status of the patient's entire body, becoming the main secondary cause of surgery that cannot be performed smoothly, complications or delayed wound healing and delayed recovery.

2. Study the influence of psychological factors, especially emotional factors, on the physiological and biochemical functions of various organs of the body

External stimuli act on human senses, causing nerve impulses. When the sensory bundles of peripheral nerves and spinal cord reach the brainstem, some nerve impulses pass through special conduction pathways to the thalamus and then to the cerebral cortex sensory area and other cortex causing cognitive and emotional activity. The other part is through the reticular structure non-special conduction pathway, on the one hand, it is widely and horizontally connected with other neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord, on the other hand, it reaches the corresponding cerebral cortex area through the hypothalamus and limbic system. In this way, when external stimuli act on the human body, it can cause a wide range of physiological responses of the central nervous system itself and the various body systems and organs governed by the system, as well as biochemical reactions such as corresponding neurotransmitters and nerve secretions. After a part of the nerve impulses reaching the cerebral cortex is realized by the individual, it causes complex psychological reactions. These psychological reactions are often expressed in the form of experiences with some special colors, such as joy, anger, sadness, fear, etc. (ie emotions). It can be seen that external stimuli can cause the body's psychological and physiological and biochemical reactions at the same time. Whether there is a causal relationship between psychological reactions and physiological and biochemical reactions has always been an academic issue. It is now certain that there is a causal relationship between the two (that is, the former is the cause of the latter, or the consequence of the latter), but not necessarily all are causal. In order for an organism to maintain a dynamic balance in response to the transient changes in external stimuli, its internal physiological and biochemical activities must change with the changes in external stimuli, most of which are not recognized by the individual and do not cause psychological reactions. When the external stimulus reaches a certain level, the incoming nerve impulses not only cause the body's strong physiological and biochemical reactions, but are also realized at the same time, and turn into psychological reactions and emotional experiences. The degree of psychological response is restricted by the body's perception and evaluation of external stimuli, coping experience and ability, and personality characteristics. These psychological reactions in turn regulate the strength of the body's physiological and biochemical reactions. The degree of psychological response can often be marked by emotional experience and performance.

The body's response to harmful external factors is called stress or stress. In the past, studies on stress have only paid attention to changes in the body's physiology and biochemistry, and the psychological aspects of stress have not been discussed much. Therefore, research on psychological stress should be emphasized. Psychological stress includes two concepts: one refers to disturbing information brought about by external social and cultural factors (such as work and study failures and frustrations, conflicts in interpersonal relationships, unexpected changes in life and crackdowns) ) Can cause a general psychological response, called a stress event (stressor); the other refers to a state that is deviated from the usual response after encountering a single or multiple stress events, called a stress state. Therefore, psychological stress not only studies how social and cultural factors produce different stress responses through different characteristics of the body, but also studies "negative" emotions such as anxiety, anger, and fear expressed in such psychological stress reactions, or "negative" "Sex" affects the physiological and biochemical functions of various systems and organs of the body.

If the body is in a negative emotional state for a long time or repeatedly, a certain organ or system of the body can malfunction. It is manifested in the circulatory system as increased or decreased blood pressure, increased or decreased heart rate, arrhythmia, palpitations, flushed or pale faces, chills, fever, syncope, etc .; in the digestive system, anorexia or bulimia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, Bowel, diarrhea or constipation; chest tightness, shortness of breath, cough, asthma, etc. in the respiratory system; frequent urination, urgency, polyuria or dysuria, urinary retention, etc. in the urinary system; dermatitis, rash, itching, Hair loss, gray hair, alopecia areata, sweating, local swelling, etc .; endocrine system is hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, obesity, diabetes, etc .; in the reproductive system is hypersexuality or hypothyroidism, impotence, premature ejaculation, coldness, premenstrual tension Disease, irregular menstruation, etc. Corresponding biochemical changes are also present, such as changes in the central nervous system transmitter catecholamines and adrenocortical hormones (corticosteroids).

Research on the role of individual psychological characteristics in the occurrence and rehabilitation of diseases

Learned from general psychology: everyone has their own psychological characteristics. It is fixed on the individual in the form of some kind of functional system or structure, and has a regular and stable nature, and often shows a certain tendency and habitual behavior to people and things. This kind of psychological characteristics often and stably displayed on the individual is called personality psychological characteristics.

A person's personality, temperament and ability can best explain his unique personality and psychological characteristics. Because there are many differences in the psychological characteristics of personality, the concept of type personality (ie personality) has come into being. For example, CCJung divides personality into "introvert" and "extrovert". In medicine, terms such as personality abnormalities or personality abnormalities are often used to mark that their personality psychological characteristics have exceeded the range of normal distribution. In many mental illnesses, we can see that the personality and psychological characteristics of many patients have their own unique features. People must consider that their personality and psychological characteristics are different from those of normal people before the onset of illness. For example, patients with typical schizophrenia exhibit schizoid personality almost without exception before the illness. Although people with schizophrenic personality may not necessarily suffer from schizophrenia, under psychological stress, people with schizophrenic personality are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia than those without schizophrenia. In addition to mental illness, in the psychosomatic diseases of clinical departments, the pathogenic effects of psychological factors are also reflected in the temperament and personality characteristics of patients. When stress events in life cause excessive and prolonged psychological stress, why do some people suffer from coronary heart disease, some people have peptic ulcers, and some people have bronchial asthma? Studies have shown that this is a relatively fixed form of physiological and psychological responses of individuals with different temperaments and personalities to different stressors. This fixed and recurring form of psychological response is actually the manifestation of his personality psychological characteristics. When M. Friedman (1950) in the United States studied the psychosomatic responses of cardiovascular patients, he found that for those recurrent tension stimuli, some people formed a specific response pattern: a group of patients showed ambitious, serious work, and competitive Emotional, lack of patience, sense of time urgency, enthusiasm for work, striving for perfection, hurried action and other personality or behavior characteristics are called "type A behavior pattern" (TABP) or type A person. The personality of the other type of patients is the opposite, manifested as leisurely contentment, not easy to compete, strong time, life and work rhythm, regardless of career achievements, is called "type B behavior type" or type B people. The study found that the levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, norepinephrine, and adrenocorticotropin in the type A group were higher than those in the type B group, and the rate of coronary heart disease and the recurrence rate of myocardial infarction were significantly higher than those in the type B group. Because this typing method is not precise or standardized, there is controversy about the link between type A behavior and coronary heart disease.

Similarly, the patient's different temperament and personality characteristics also affect the healing process of the disease. For example, a patient with cerebrovascular accident (commonly known as stroke) has different degrees of hemiplegia after the acute phase. In order to be able to sit up, walk down, and manage his daily life independently, he needs to perform a series of gradually strengthened exercises. The speed and effectiveness of paralyzed limb functional rehabilitation depend on many factors, one of which is the patient's attitude towards the disease, such as whether they have confidence, whether they can overcome negative and distressed emotions and have a persistent will. Exercise with the guidance and help of family members. How to make the patient's personality and psychological characteristics promote the rehabilitation of various diseases is one of the important topics to be studied by medical psychology.

4. Research on how to recognize, dominate or adjust one's physiological functions through the advanced psychological functions of people, in order to achieve the purpose of treating diseases, preventing diseases and maintaining health.

Human psychological activities are not only accompanied by changes in physiological functions, but also can regulate the latter to control their own consciousness. When a person is angry, the sympathetic nervous system is highly excited, and heart rate increases, blood pressure increases, breathing increases, and the face becomes pale. If you can control your anger, it will make the activities of the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system) in a relatively balanced state, and the function of the organs under control will not be damaged. If you consciously control negative emotions, adjust your breathing (such as slowing your breathing from 10-20 to 4-6 times per minute), and focus on certain organs in your body. Imagine that these organs are in The state of relaxation, through learning and training, can further enable certain physiological functions in the body to move according to their own will, and the negative emotions of anxiety and tension often disappear with the relaxation of all parts of the body. Consciously focus attention and imagination on the activities of one's own organs, so that no other thought activities occur in the brain (that is, to eliminate all distractions); it is itself a positive and active mental activity. However, its manifestation is a state of silence, and the subjective experience is only limited words, words (such as "loose") or monotonous visual and listening images without undulating emotions. Repeated exercises or exercises will more and more naturally and habitually control the activities of all parts of the body and organs. This method of controlling the physical activity of the body with the spirit is highly valued in the medicine of the motherland. Apply it as a method to get rid of illness, strengthen one's body, keep in good health, and prolong life. For example, "Qigong" is a prominent example. Qigong uses a certain posture and adjustment of breathing to help a person's entire body enter a state of peace and quiet. Under such a mental state, it can promote the optimal adjustment of the physiological functions of each part of the body. . There are also methods similar to qigong abroad, such as yoga, zen, silence, gradual relaxation, and biofeedback. This type of method is characterized by the lack of awareness of any psychological activity, that is, there is no "psychological state" of subjective emotional experience to regulate its own physiological functions. Is it also possible if it is replaced by a positive cognitive activity, focusing on imagining or thinking about something that causes a high degree of interest, and accompanied by visual and auditory sensory stimuli (images, pictures, music)? To better promote the optimal adjustment of the physiological functions of the whole body is also a subject worthy of study.

In the field of medicine, medical psychology has further specialized with the development of medicine itself. Western literature and medical psychology books have a lot of specialized terms, such as clinical psychology, abnormal psychology, clinical health psychology, social psychology of health and disease, neuropsychology, and so on. In the books named after medical psychology, clinical psychology, and abnormal psychology, the content involved is basically the same, but each has its own emphasis. There are two reasons for this phenomenon: one is that medical psychology itself does not have a mature theoretical system that is accepted by everyone, so scholars explain the content of medical psychology according to their own opinions and experiences; the other is that the professional training of scholars is different The research focus and scope of work are different. Medical psychologists with a psychological background, psychiatrists with a medical background, and other people who have not received the above-mentioned two types of professional training and who are engaged in clinical clinical diagnosis, treatment, and mental health work, in explaining the problems of disease and health Each has its own focus. In their work, the chapter titles are quite different from what is described. Chinese medical psychologists have analyzed the relevant foreign works and their doctrines from the perspective of dialectical materialism, and then described the relationship between medical psychology, clinical psychology and abnormal psychology as follows:

First, medical psychology is the study and solution of psychological problems in the entire medical field. It expounds the role of psychological factors in health and disease in general, and the mechanisms of physical physiology and biochemical processes caused by it. It also proposes psychological perspectives on human health and diseases and research methods in medical psychology. It also describes the history and trends of medical psychology.

Second, clinical psychology and abnormal psychology are both branches of medical psychology. The difference between the two is that the former attaches great importance to the psychological problems of clinical diseases and focuses on the methods of psychological testing and psychological treatment; the latter focuses on the psychological problems of mental illness, and analyzes them more theoretically and psychologically. .

The branches of medical psychology are:

I. Clinical Psychology

two,

Medical psychology and psychosomatic medicine have a basic proposition, that is, the lesions on the human body will leave traces in the spirit, and any psychological obstacle will also inevitably leave traces on the body. This proposition is true because people and animals are fundamentally different. In humans, it shows both physical activities of physiological and biochemical processes and non-physical psychological activities.

These two activities are accompanied and inseparable. They affect each other, restrict each other, and transform each other, forming a whole of unified activities in humans. All human activities are governed not only by biological laws, but also by psychological and sociological laws.

1. Patient's seeking medical treatment refers to the behavior of seeking medical help when people feel some kind of physical discomfort or feeling sick. It is an important behavior for humans to prevent, treat and maintain health. It can be divided into active Seeking medical behavior, passive seeking medical behavior, physical seeking medical behavior.

2. Patients' compliance behavior refers to the behavior of patients to observe, treat and prevent recurrence of diseases by following the prescriptions prescribed by medical staff and following the doctor's orders.

3. Psychological needs of patients: the need for physical and mental recovery the need for safety the need for stimulation the need for love and belonging the need for respect the need for self-achievement

4. Psychological reactions of patients. Under the condition of illness, patients will have some psychological phenomena different from healthy people due to the influence of disease and medical activities.

5. Patient's emotional response: For patients, the most common emotional characteristic is poor mood, followed by emotional fragility, emotional instability, easy to provoke, and easy to accept the suggestion and induction of negative language. Clinically common emotional problems are anxiety (anxious emotional states when people are facing important events or dangers); depression (characterized by depression, negative emotions caused by loss of reality or expected loss) Loneliness; passive dependence.

Western medicine was introduced to China at the end of the nineteenth century, and the popular Weir Xiao cytopathology at that time also entered. This philosophical idea of mechanical materialism that regards humans as the cell United Kingdom has long dominated medical education in China. This western medical theory is far less important than traditional medical theory of the motherland in the importance of psychological influence on disease prevention. The medical system of the motherland based on the theory of yin, yang and the five elements as the basic theory attaches importance to the relationship between people and living environment, the relationship between physical activity and mental activity, the different temperament types of people and the relationship between their personality characteristics and disease response. These factors are taken as a whole. Recognize and value the role of psychological factors in the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. However, when modern science and technology were introduced into our country, this treasure trove of medicine of the motherland accumulated from long-term folk practice failed to be systematically and scientifically sorted out at the end of the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty. It was also cracked down and suppressed during the period of Kuomintang politics. Therefore, the idea of medical psychology in Chinese medicine has not risen to the theoretical level of modern medical psychology. Psychology is younger than medicine, and it was introduced to China relatively late. In 1917, the Department of Philosophy of Peking University opened a psychology course, and for the first time established a simple psychology laboratory. In 1920, Beijing Normal University established a Psychology Laboratory, and Nanjing Normal University established a Department of Psychology. In August 1921, the Chinese Psychological Association was established. At that time, psychiatry in medicine, because it was a study of psychiatric manifestations of various psychological abnormalities, was more closely related to psychology than other medical disciplines. Psychology was still an underdeveloped science at that time. The college-style research departed from the reality of psychiatry, and psychiatrists had to establish their own psychological system, which is Freud's "psychoanalysis" theory. In 1922, he founded China's first psychology magazine, Psychology, and published a review of abnormal psychology. In the 1930s, about a dozen universities across the country set up a department of psychology or a psychology group, set up a psychology institute in the Central Academy, published mental health textbooks for universities, and also offered courses in medical schools. In April 1936, the Chinese Mental Health Association was established in Nanjing. The work was suspended due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War the following year. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, a small number of medical psychologists engaged in mental health, psychological diagnosis, and psychological treatment in medical schools, psychiatric wards, and child welfare institutions, and published books on this subject. A local meeting of mental health representatives was held in Nanjing in 1948.

After liberation, only a few full-time medical psychologists in hospitals were engaged in the work of psychological diagnosis and psychotherapy. Some medical colleges provided relevant courses, but soon stopped. Because in the early days of liberation, studying the Soviet Union across the country, as in the Soviet Union, all Western psychology and abnormal psychology entered the Cold House as bourgeois goods, and psychological tests and psychotherapy were idealistic things, equating psychology with idealism. Until 1958, psychologists of the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences contacted medical practice and cooperated with psychiatrists of Beijing Medical College to carry out comprehensive and rapid treatment based on psychotherapy for a large number of patients with neurosis at the time. After achieving significant curative effects within the medical community, the work of medical psychology was developed to a certain extent after attracting the attention of the medical community, especially the psychiatric community. At the time, this therapy was also applied to some psychosomatic diseases (hypertension, ulcers) and schizophrenia, and they also achieved good results and were welcomed by the medical community. At the same time, the etiology investigation and experimental research on pathopsychology were carried out on these diseases. In the early 1960s, in the prevention and treatment of endemic Cretin disease, a set of scales was designed for the intellectual identification of children with the disease, and a "preliminary plan for endemic Cretin disease intelligence grading" was formulated. The career of medical psychology is about to flourish, but it has been hit by the "decade of turmoil". Psychology and medical psychology have been severely devastated. The only scientific research institution in the country, the Institute of Psychology, has been dissolved. Work was suspended for eight years. It was not until the end of 1976 that the work of medical psychology sprung up across the country. The second academic conference of the Chinese Psychological Association held in Baoding in December 1978 and the academic conference of medical psychology held in Beijing in June 1979 marked that medical psychology has entered a new stage of development. The conference plans to set up a professional committee on medical psychology, and formally established a professional committee on medical psychology at the third academic conference of the Chinese Psychological Association held in Tianjin in November 1979. Since then, under the leadership, organization and promotion of the Society, the cause of medical psychology has developed vigorously and extensively across the country.

Training of Medical Psychology Team

In a new teaching plan issued by the Ministry of Health in 1979, it was proposed to offer medical psychology courses in qualified institutions. In 1980, various medical schools and intermediate health nurses were notified that the school offered courses in psychology and medical psychology, and incorporated the development of medical psychology into medical education. In order to train medical psychology teachers and provide medical psychology courses, the Medical Psychology Committee commissioned the Medical Psychology Department of Beijing Medical College, Peking University Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences, Beijing Anding Hospital in 1980 and 1982. Held two national training courses for medical psychologists in Beijing; from 1979 to 1980, the Ministry of Health commissioned Hunan College to host the first psychological test training course, which has now reached its 15th session. Most of the trainees are medical school teachers and hospital physicians. . In addition, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jilin, Henan, Shandong, Inner Mongolia and other 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and the Fuzhou Army organized one or more major administrative regions or provincial and municipal level medical psychology Test training courses have trained a large number of full-time or part-time personnel, and have undertaken the teaching, clinical and scientific research of medical psychology. After the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences recruited postgraduates in medical psychology as early as 1979, the Department of Psychology of Peking University and some medical schools also recruited postgraduates in medical psychology.

Teaching organization organization

In 1979, Beijing Medical College first established the Department of Medical Psychology. In 1980, Shenyang China Medical University also established the Department of Medical Psychology. So far, more than 40 medical schools have established the Department of Medical Psychology, and there are more than 30 medical schools. The school has full-time teachers of medical psychology. By the end of 1988, more than 80 medical schools had offered courses in psychology or medical psychology, and some had lectures on medical psychology. According to incomplete statistics, at least 300 secondary health and nursing schools in the country offer courses in psychology or medical psychology, accounting for two-fifths of the total number of secondary technical schools and nursing schools in the country. Since 1983, some medical psychology teachers in medical schools have held teaching seminars during the summer vacation to exchange and discuss issues in medical psychology teaching in medical schools. In May 1987, the Ministry of Health convened the second session of the compilation and review of textbooks for medical majors in medical colleges and universities in Chengdu, and decided to revise and publish the third edition of textbooks for medical majors. "Medical Psychology" was stipulated as a new compulsory textbook at this conference.

Society work and academic conferences

At present, in addition to Taiwan and Tibet, provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions of the country have successively established medical psychology professional committees or professional groups under the branches of the local psychological associations. The National Academic Conference on Medical Psychology has been held five times independently. (table 2-1).

In addition, medical psychology as a group participated in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth academic conferences held by the Chinese Psychological Association in 1979, 1981, 1984, and 1987.

Table 2-1 National Academic Conference on Medical Psychology

time	name	location	Number of representatives	Papers	Features
1980	First Academic Conference	Liuzhou	150	100	Psychiatry and psychologists dominate
1982	Second Academic Conference	Xiamen	200	190	Internal, external, gynecological, pediatric, facial features, skin, plastic surgery, oncology and traditional Chinese medicine are all represented, and more than half of clinical and basic medicine are represented
1983	The Third Academic Conference	Yangzhou	435	226	Four panel discussions: 1. Psychosomatic Medicine Group 2. Psychological Test Group 3. Psychotherapy, Mental Health, Psychological Counseling Group 4. Nursing Psychology Group
1985	The Fourth Academic Conference	Zhaoqing	250	113	There are five thematic groups: 1. Psychological test group 2. Counseling and psychotherapy group 3. Psychosomatic disease group 4. Nursing psychology group 5. Neuropsychology and other groups
1988	Fifth Academic Conference	Chengdu	86	78	Ibid

Publications

Since 1979, the Medical Psychology Professional Committee has published three episodes of "Anthology of Medical Psychology" and published research papers on medical psychology in recent years. In October 1984, a selection of medical psychology papers was published for the third academic conference. In 1985, the popular science publication "Medical Psychology Knowledge Series" was published. In addition, many papers on medical psychology have been published in "

Theoretical basis of medical psychology

When solving any problem, the working hypothesis should be put forward first, and then the hypothesis should be confirmed, rejected and modified through practice. This hypothesis can also be called a theoretical basis. Different theoretical foundations have special research methods. For example, the psychology school of psychology uses psychoanalytic methods, and behaviorism uses conditional reflection methods. Sometimes the same method can serve different theories, but they differ from each other in their specific practices and interpretation of results.

Medical Psychology

Scientific research must be scientific, but sometimes it lacks scientificity in the specific process. The first way to enhance scientificity is to have a scientific attitude, that is, a realistic attitude. You can't start from a subjective desire, you must take an objective attitude towards everything. Followed by practice, in practice, learning methods, scientific thinking, keen observation and good at summing up experience and lessons. Practice is to do it yourself. Medical psychology is a discipline that has both theory and practice. This theory is useless if you don't do it yourself, don't often devote yourself to practical work, know some theories and cannot solve practical problems.

Clinical method

Clinical method does not specifically refer to methods in clinical medicine, it is in contrast to experimental methods. The main feature of clinical law is a systematic and comprehensive detailed description of an individual's behavior, without comparative standards. The specific methods can be divided into case history method, observation method and survey method. It is the most commonly used method in medical psychology, especially clinical psychology. The experimental method also needs to cooperate with the clinical method. For example, when providing research materials (such as patients), the clinical method must be used. Clinical methods are also used when examining laboratory results. Generally speaking, clinical law can work in the following aspects: describe some rare and important phenomena and things in detail; form hypotheses: form new hypotheses through analysis and classification of detailed case entertainment; confirm the theory: theory It is general and conceptual. Through the study of clinical methods, it has been confirmed in individual cases.

The clinical method has the advantages of wide application, convenient implementation, and no need for special instruments, but it also has certain limitations. Mainly when collecting history, observations and investigations, it is more difficult to rule out subjectivity and prejudice, or to add personal wishes to the collected materials, which undermines science and therefore requires other objective methods to supplement it.

Experimental Method

Test method

Medical psychology