According to Stone (1979) there are a number of questions that cannot be answered in concrete terms. For example, the question of how we maintain, protect and recover health, as long as there is no clear meaning to health and how it can be measured. Most people will not realize that 'health' has / can have a totally different meaning for other people, cultures, social classes, etc. Holes for the skull drilling process were sometimes found in skulls from the Stone Age to allow the evil spirits that caused diseases to be released. Illness was also sometimes interpreted as a punishment of the gods by the ancient Hebrew texts.The ancient Greeks saw body and mind as a whole, but did not attribute illness to spiritual matters. Hippocrates was one of the first who talked about a balance between the four bodily fluids, also called humours (mucus, blood, yellow bile and black bile). Each humour has a different trait. In addition, the humours are also linked to seasons and the four conditions dry, wet, cold and warm. Mucus is connected to winter (cold and wet) and large amounts of mucus is linked to a calm temperament. Blood is connected to spring (wet and warm) and large amounts of blood are linked to an optimistic personality. Large amounts of yellow bile are associated with an angry temperament and belongs to the summer (hot and dry). Finally, black bile is related to sadness and autumn (cold and dry). If the juices are in balance, a person is healthy. Hippocrates also recognized the link between (healthy) eating and health and that physical factors can influence the mind.Galen, another influential Greek, talked about the physical basis of diseases some 300 years after Hippocrates. The bodily fluids would not only affect our character, but would also be responsible for certain diseases. The mind plays no role in the development of a disease. The...

Psychological factors are important in many aspects of physical and mental health. There are six definitions of health:Not having symptoms of illness.Having physical or social reserves.Having healthy lifestyles.Being physically fit or vital.Psychological well-being.Being able to function.The definition that is used determines who is seen as ill or healthy. Health is very individual. For individuals, health and illness are subjective states of wellbeing. A definition of health can be physical (1), subjective (2), behavioural (3), functional (4), psychosocial (5), social (6) and cultural (7). Health can be defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. However, this may be too broad or only refer to an utopian state of health barely anyone has. The definition of health has implications for treatments provided by health services. In the Western world, it is seen that individuals are responsible for their health by adopting healthy or unhealthy lifestyles. Health can be seen as a continuum. Medical treatment focuses on the illness side of the continuum whereas health promotion techniques operate on the wellness side of the continuum.Psychological research tests common sense views empirically and goes beyond common sense. Besides that, people don’t always act according to common sense, making psychology more than common sense. To treat people effectively, it is necessary to diagnose the problem accurately (1) and treat the problem appropriately (2). Accurate diagnoses are more likely if it is understood how people’s experience shape perception, reporting of symptoms and help-seeking behaviour. Understanding psychological and social processes help us diagnose and treat people more effectively. There is a strong link between physical health and psychological health. The biomedical approach is based on a separation of body and mind and is unhelpful. Embodied...