Author Archives: Elizabeth Doll
Class Reflection
This class has covered a lot of material about health, illness, disparity, and everything that connects them. I have thought at times that I wish there was more of a focus in the class, because scratching the surface on so … Continue reading
Careers Talk
Hearing the two health psychologists, Ebony Lambert and Dr. Olbirsch, speak about their experiences in health psychology was interesting. It was informative to hear their distinct perspectives because they were at such different places in their careers. Ebony, as a … Continue reading
Obesity and Transplantation Talk
Dr. Gardiner’s talk about kidney transplantation and BMI was honestly shocking to me. I had no idea how prevalent renal failure is, or how much of an issue obesity is as a barrier. Yet, obesity and severe obesity continue to … Continue reading
Chapters 14 & 15 with epilogue
I found Chapter 14 to be one of the more interesting chapters, since it talked about how traumatic events and long-term stress impact people. This is something I have an interest in because epigenetics is SO cool. The fact that … Continue reading
Chapter 12
In Chapter 12, social networks and social life are discussed, with some conflicting results. The authors found that it wasn’t the feeling of being loved and cared for that increased longevity, but rather, the size of a person’s social network. This … Continue reading
Chapter 13
Chapter 13 aims to examine the gender gap in longevity, in which women live longer than men. Instead of finding that the gap was sex-related, they found that the gap was gender related. Femininity was protective for both men and … Continue reading
Chapter 10 & 11
In Chapter 10, career success is analyzed in terms of its contribution to stress and longevity. Rather than the expected finding that high levels of career stress shorten life expectancy, the authors found that stress in careers was a much … Continue reading
Chapters 8 & 9
Chapter 8 discusses the effects that exercise and activity levels may have on life expectancy. I found this chapter to be pretty inconsistent, though. It seemed like the authors were trying to avoid taking a firm stance–to avoid offending people–so … Continue reading
Ch. 6 & 7
In Chapter 6, the impact of early childhood and school on an individual’s lifelong health is discussed. More common myths were debunked, such as the criticality of breastfeeding on long-term health and normal personality development. (They found no difference.) The … Continue reading
Ch. 4 & 5
In Chapter 4, Friedman & Martin discuss how happiness affects or may be affected by health. Their findings again disagreed with many of the common adages about how to live a long, healthy life. They found that those with the … Continue reading