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.