A study tried to assess whether individuals who experience a series of uncontrollable, undesirable life events exhibit greater illness. It found that hospitalized patients reported more uncontrollable losses during the one-year period prior to hospitalization. Only undesirable, uncontrollable events were bad though. Medical procedures . Illness itself may threaten a persons sense of control.
Illness threatens the ability to regulate physiological processes.
Furthermore, may feel in an inferior position to the health-care practitioner. Many studies have looked at the effect of control enhancement in medical settings. Some approaches give patients a great deal of preparatory information - patients can thus make plans, enhancing the feeling of control. Study showed that patients had better reactions to anesthesia and surgery when focus of attention was directed away from their own emotional reactions to the specific tasks that made them feel more in control. A study of nursing homes assessed the effects of interventions designed to encourage elderly home residents to make a greater number of choices and fell more in control of their lives.