The Holistic Approach to Medicine

  • Z. J. Lipowski
Chapter

Abstract

The above quotation from Plato spells out the holistic approach to medicine and bears witness to its ancient roots. The term “holistic,” which derives from Greekholos, or whole, is of more recent vintage, having been introduced by Smuts in 1926.1 It connotes an approach to the study of man in health and in disease, and to medical practice, marked by the concern with the individualas a whole, as a person and a psychophysiological organism interacting with the social and physical environment. A core assumption of the holistic approach, one that Plato2 expressed so concisely, asserts that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Thus, to understand man fully, one needs to study him as a mind-body complex, a biopsychosocial unit. Study of parts of that unit can never result in complete knowledge of the unit as a whole.

Keywords

Psychosocial Factor Stressful Life Event Holistic Approach Psychosocial Stress Physical Illness 
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1985

Authors and Affiliations

  • Z. J. Lipowski
    • 1
  1. 1.Clarke Institute of PsychiatryTorontoCanada

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