Behavioral medicine applies psychology, biology, and health sciences to treat disorders that affect behavior, using techniques such as therapy, medication, and biofeedback. Practitioners include psychologists, physicians, and nurses, and research is published in academic journals.
Behavioral medicine is a broad field that applies general knowledge from psychology, biology, and health sciences to behavior and behavioral problems. There are many different disorders that affect behavior; some are purely psychological while others have an identifiable physiological component that can be isolated and treated. The field of behavioral medicine seeks to understand and treat any type of disorder that strongly affects behavior. This includes everything from eating disorders and depression to Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Just as the disorders of interest are incredibly varied, possible treatments for them can range from biofeedback and hypnosis to medications and hospitalization.
People from a wide variety of health-related fields are active in the broad field of behavioral medicine. Psychologists, for example, may contribute to the field on a clinical level by helping people with behavioral problems in a therapeutic setting. They may also contribute to the field academically by conducting research at a university or elsewhere and contributing to behavioral medicine journals. Physicians and nurses with appropriate training in behavioral psychology are also common practitioners in the field. Some focus solely on the psychology of the patient, while others try to look at issues from a more holistic viewpoint, taking into consideration all aspects of the patient’s overall health.
The field of behavioral medicine is largely defined by the body of techniques used in its application. Some involve the use of medications, while others involve close interaction with a therapist on a short- or long-term basis. Biofeedback, hypnosis and other therapeutic methods are very common in the treatment of behavioral problems and are commonly used in behavioral medicine. Sometimes the best way to manage a behavior problem is to understand the thoughts and feelings leading up to the problem and, if applicable, the environmental factors or past traumas that caused the problem to exist in the first place.
In some cases, it is not possible to treat behavior problems through the intervention of a therapist alone. In these cases, various behavior-altering drugs may need to be used to treat the behavior problems. This is often true in cases of major depression or schizophrenia where regular meetings with a therapist are unable to control the behavioral symptoms of the disorder.
Behavioral medicine also has research-based academic aspects. There are several journals dedicated to publishing research in the field of behavioral medicine. Some are specific to a particular subdiscipline of the broad field, while others publish research on nearly all aspects of the field as a whole. The research may involve case studies of individuals with behavioral problems, studies analyzing the effects of new drugs, or even sociological studies of the behavior of large groups of people in various situations.
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