There have been many different perspectives of disease and how one becomes affected by this. Some people once thought that disease was a curse or caused by witches or demons. At another time in history, people thought that people who were diseased had a destiny of pain and agony or a punishment from lack of morals (Straub, 2012). Today, mental illness and disease can be attributed to one’s “unhealthy personality,” genetics, societal factors, and more (Straub, 2012, p. 6). Historical views of health and illness has definitely changed from the perspectives today. The causes of these changes in perspective will be examined.
Changes in the Historical Views of Health Dating back to the Ice Age and preindustrial times, a person who became ill or diseased was said to have been the cause of evil (Straub, 2012). People who became ill did not show any physical signs; however, were possessed by a demon, impacted by witchcraft, or had a weak religious belief system.
During this time, people were treated through exorcism, sorcery, or even trephination—a primitive method of surgery (Pitsios & Zafiri, 2012). According to Straub (2012) and Pitsios and Zifiri (2012), archaeologists have uncovered prehistoric human skulls having unevenly shaped holes drilled by early medicine practitioners to let disease-causing demons to exit patients’ bodies. Historical records also reveal that trephination was a practiced form of medicine in Europe, Egypt, India, and Central and South America.
Later, during the fifth and sixth centuries B. C. E. , the foundation for Western medicine was founded by Hippocrates, when Greeks and Romans began to advance their information systems and technology. Hippocrates began to question the earlier beliefs of medicine, and argued that disease was a natural occurrence (Straub, 2012). He began studying the causes ofdisea se, knowing that these could not come from superstitions and demons.
Hippocrates’ ANALYSIS OF HEALTH VIEWS 3 humoral theory suggested that people become infected by disease when there is an imbalance among the four humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm (Green, 1985). In order to remain healthy and disease free, one must practice a healthy lifestyle of exercise, rest, diet, and avoidance of stress (Straub, 2012). During the first and second centuries C. E. , healers built upon Hippocrates’ theories and expanded upon the humoral theory.
Specifically, Galen, argued that the four humors each had their own elementary qualities that determined the traits of different diseases (Green, 1985; Straub, 2012). He furthered his theory by arguing drugs had specific qualities that would treat these diseases. While Western medicine was progressing, the ideas of disease in the Middle Ages reverted back to the thought that disease was caused by something supernatural, such as a demon.
Illness and disease was a punishment from God for any “evildoing, and epidemic diseases, such as the two great outbursts of plague (a bacterial disease carried by rats and other rodents) that occurred during the Middle Ages, were believed to be a sign of God’s wrath” (Straub, 012, p. 10). Further, the Renaissance era regressed back to the scientific understanding of anatomy.
Descartes believed in mind-body dualism, where the mental and physical states of a human body were different in nature. Following the Renaissance era, technology continued to advance, science became more heavily studied, and medicine progressed. During the later centuries, scientists began discovering exactly how the body was made and how disease impacted the make-up. Theories moved from internal causes of disease (anatomical theory) to cellular theory and the idea of spontaneous generation.
The Biomedical Model ANALYSIS OF HEALTH VIEWS 4 The biomedical model of medicine came about in the mid-19th century, and was used by medical practitioners to diagnose illness and disease (Dyer, 2004). According to this model, health creates the liberty from disease, pain, or defect, ensuring the standard human condition as healthy. The biomedical model emphasizes physical processes, such as biochemistry, pathology, and/or physiology of illness. It does not factor in how social factors play a role in the causes of illness.
While the biopsychosocial model considers diagnosis to be a result of a common idea between the doctor and patient, the biomedical model does not take into consideration the affect that the treatment will have on a patient (Dyer, 2004). This model focuses only on the biological factors, but excludes the environmental, social, and psychological influences associated with such health conditions. Despite this, many Western countries still use this model to diagnose and treat patients.
Pros and Cons of the Biomedical Model The biomedical model in medicine focuses on individual, physical functioning and defines poor health and illness as the cause of disease (Dyer, 2004).
Health, as a common definition, means freedom of disease, but the idea behind the model is that poor health causes disease, which is a contradiction. The model focuses on treatment; however, negates the idea of prevention, which is important in lowering the risk of disease. Using the biomedical model enables statistics to be collected and treatments to be measured for impact, which is important in health. However, since it does not consider the more wide-range determinants of health, the numbers are only collected for more specific cases of illness.
The Psychoanalytic theory to Psychosomatic Medicine The biomedical model, as already determined, focuses on the idea that disease is the direct result of a virus, pathogen, or bacterium that attacks the body (Straub, 2012).
The model ANALYSIS OF HEALTH VIEWS 5 embraces the ideas of mind-body dualism and reductionism because it does not take into account social or behavioral influences of disease. Freud and Alexander furthered this idea and suggested that specific diseases are caused by unconscious conflicts (Straub, 2012). It is these views and ideas that created a basis for psychosomatic medicine.
This type of medicine centers on the idea that diagnosis and treatment of illness caused by these unconscious conflicts are formed within the mind (Straub, 2012). Because this practice was integrated within the psychoanalytical theory, as well as founded on the idea that one issue is adequate to generate a disease, it became obsolete in the medical world. Behavioral Medicine and its Relationship to Health Psychology Behavioral medicine is an interdisciplinary method to the advancement and amalgamation of behavioral and biomedical evidence to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and restoration of physical and psychological illnesses (Conger, 1987).
Health psychology, while separate, is a related field of study. Health psychology is an umbrella for psychologists dealing with health and illness, such as that of behavioral medicine (Conger, 1987). “Health psychology is the educational, scientific, professional, and psychological contributions to promote and maintain health” (Fisher, 2008, para. 2). It aims to prevent and treat disease, as well as ascertain where it came from and the connections of health and disease. There is a further branch of this study referred to as clinical health psychology, which is the actual application and practice of principles in a clinical setting with actual patients, rather than just learning through case studies.
Behavioral health might reflect upon health and medical illness; however, health psychology actually correlates directly to it (Conger, 1987; Fisher, 2008). Conclusion ANALYSIS OF HEALTH VIEWS 6 From the beginning of time until today, there has been disease and illness, as well as diagnosis and treatment. However, the theories, ideas, and behaviors of these have varied over the years, many theorists building upon earlier ideas. One thing in common is that disease is real and that something must be done in order to prevent and treat it.
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