The Holistic Approach to Healthcare
A person’s health experience is a complex interaction between environment, mind, and body. The body is an integrated system of organs and processes. Neglecting to see the body as a whole or refusing to acknowledge the interplay of multiple forces acting upon the body is a great travesty.
Sometimes there is a singular cause. However, many times only one part of the body is treated when in reality multiple systems are involved. Just like a chain of dominoes, something upstream can impact things down the line. Not treating the body in this manner can lead to only symptom management rather than addressing the root cause!
The mind has vast tangible, physical effects within the body, and what goes on inside the body influences the mind. The mind responds to the environment and the body responds to the environment. The mind’s perception of the environment can change even though the environment does not change. Lifestyle (environment) interventions are made often by those seeking to improve their health, but often times treating the mind and body directly is overlooked. Even if there is only one health problem, the root cause needs to be addressed so that it does not cause problems downstream. Even if there is only one thing to address (which is rarely the case), why not treat the entire body and improve total health!?
A narrowed view of the body is necessary to figure out the exact science and cause of conditions. However, I would like to see that specificity applied and integrated as a piece of a working system. I would like to see a push for looking at the body as a whole. Furthermore, modern medicine tends to dismiss naturalistic approaches. Natural advocates label modern medicine as evil. There are advantages to both. There are needs for both. I would like to see a shift toward integrative medicine.
