Health Psychology
In 2023, I was commissioned by Tziolas Publications to translate the university textbook Health Psychology: An Introduction to Behavior and Health (10th edition) by Brannon, Updegraff and Feist. The scientific editors were Mr. G. Koulierakis, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health of the University of Western Attica, Ms. A. Paschali, Associate Professor of Health Psychology at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and Ms. Maria Karekla, Associate Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Cyprus.
This 904 page textbook is exceptionally interesting and useful comprising an extensive introduction to Health Psychology, which covers a wide range of topics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the risks of e-cigarettes, the Type D personality as a risk for heart disease, the brain disease model of alcoholism and so on. This book is a comprehensive guide for the field of health psychology and correlates the science of psychology with health and well-being.
Basic topics:
- Introduction to Health Psychology
- Conducting Research in Health
- Seeking and Receiving Health Care
- Complying with Healthy Behaviour Patterns
- Stress Definition, Measurement and Management
- Understanding Stress, Immunity and Diseases
- Understanding and Managing Pain
- Alternative Medicine Approaches
- Behavioural factors and Cardiovascular Diseases
- Cancer and Behavioural factors
- Living with Chronic Disease
- Smoking
- Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Substance Abuse
- Diet and Weight
- Physical Exercise
- Future Challenges
Ορισμένες από τις δυσκολίες που αντιμετώπισα κατά μετάφραση αυτού του βιβλίου ήταν η απόδοση των όρων που σχετίζονται με τον αλκοολισμό, όπως current drinker, regular drinker, binge drinker, heavy drinker, problem drinker, alcoholic, καθώς αφενός δεν υπάρχει επίσημη, εδραιωμένη μετάφρασή τους και αφετέρου τα διαθέσιμα λεξικά και γλωσσάρια δεν συγκλίνουν ως προς την απόδοση, ενώ αντίθετα παρέχουν περισσότερες από μία αποδόσεις, όπως π.χ. τρέχων πότης, υφιστάμενος πότης, επεισοδιακός πότης, ευκαιριακός πότης, επεισοδιακή υπερκατανάλωση αλκοόλ, βαριά κατανάλωση αλκοόλ, βαριά κατανάλωση οινοπνευματωδών ποτών, προβληματική κατανάλωση αλκοόλ, πρόβλημα κατανάλωσης αλκοόλ, αλκοολισμός, κ.ά.
A similar problem arose with the terms healthcare provider, healthcare professional, healthcare practitioner, healthcare worker, healthcare personnel, as well as with the following terms: regimen, medical regimen, medical treatment, medication regimen, treatment regimen.
Finally, the equivalents of the Greek and English terms for illness, disease, sickness, condition and the ubiquitous ailment are not clear, since the meanings of relevant translations overlap. For example, illness and sickness are translated using the same word, and disease is translated with two similar words, while ailment has no equivalent.