ABSTRACT
Body and mind are ineradicably attached, each affecting the state of the other. Francis Bacon in 1605 invited us to consider ‘how, and how farre the humours and affects of the body do alter and work upon the mind: or again, how and how farre the passions and apprehensions of the mind do alter and work upon the bodie’. At its most dramatic, a state of acute anxiety induced by the sight of a burglar may trigger a fatal heart attack, and it is established statistically that the depression of bereavement is associated with an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
