ABSTRACT
The idea that mental and physical health can influence each other has a long but controversial history. Hippocrates, a Greek physician born in 460 Bc, and often considered the father of medicine, believed that illness had a physical and rational explanation (Asimov, 1982; Porter, 1994). He asserted that each of four circulating fluids (blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm) is associated with bodily temperaments. According to Hippocrates, diseases arise when the four circulatory fluids get out of balance. In essence, then, Hippocrates believed that disturbances in temperament lead to disease and conversely that disturbances in bodily functions influence temperament.
