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Essay / My Health Beliefs and Behavior
Table of ContentsIntroductionConclusionWorks Cited:IntroductionConsider a health behavior that you (and your family and friends) engage in (smoking, poor diet, stress management, going to the doctor). Based on your reading, describe and analyze the connection between your health beliefs and this behavior? Analyze and discuss the psychological and deterrent factors you observe in your own behavior and that of your family and/or friends. (Adapted from Ogden, J., 2017.) Health behavior is defined as “any behavior related to an individual's health status”. It can be a negative or positive behavior, and it plays a very important role in determining health and disease outcomes. For this assignment, I evaluated things going on in my own life and how my health behaviors have contributed to my current state of health. The two health behaviors I decided to focus on are lack of sleep and excessive caffeine consumption. I've always been someone who didn't need a lot of sleep to get through the day. I could sleep maybe 1-3 hours each night and still be fine the next day. Sleeping too long always made me feel sick to my stomach, otherwise I would be extremely groggy. It was almost like my body was rejecting sleep over the years. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayDuring this time, my health behavior was due to my attitude and perception of risk. I always had people telling me that not sleeping much was unhealthy and that it would eventually "shut down" my body, but I always ignored them. I felt that I was still young, that I had been doing this my whole life and that nothing bad had happened to me. I also felt like people were being dramatic when making closure statements because I had never heard of that kind of thing happening to anyone. I didn't think anything would happen to me, because nothing had happened yet. These health beliefs and not taking risks seriously led me to continue sleeping very few hours a day, and sometimes even staying awake for two days straight if I was having enough fun or if I had too much to do. I was encouraging an unhealthy habit because I didn't really think the risk was serious or even realistic. Another terrible health behavior was my addiction to caffeine. I became addicted to caffeine at a young age. As soon as my parents let me start drinking soda, I was hooked. I drank 5, 6, sometimes even 7 and 8 sodas a day. This terrible habit continued into adulthood. Even though I don't drink as many sodas today, I still have to have my Coca Cola daily. When I'm not drinking Coke, I need coffee or an energy drink to avoid getting terrible caffeine withdrawal headaches. Caffeine went from being something I enjoyed to one I depended on over time. When I started feeling the effects of never being able to get enough rest and doing so much throughout my days that I didn't have time to rest even when I desperately needed it, I relied on caffeine to get me through it. the day. This even led me to start using 5 hour energy shots just to get me through my graveyard shifts because I couldn't sleep during the.