Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

Human Ecology and Health Education 231
and individual factors, some of primary and others of secondary or lesser importance.
The ecological causal web of health is all finally centered, at the human level, in the
life cycle and developing self in its quest for identity and fulfillment. Viewed from this
vantage point, health is much more than the absence of disease, disability, pain, and
decay; it encompasses physical fitness, social well - being, personality development,
and a zest for full, fruitful, creative living.
Health then is more than wellness. Our postulate is that a well person can become
healthier. Man ’ s health potential ranges from zero health (death) to optimum health,
on a health - disease continuum. An ecological elevator effect is depicted in Figure
21.1 , based upon the postulate that favorable ecological factors tend to push one up
into the zones of wellness and health, and unfavorable ecological factors tend to push
one down, into the zones of disease and death.
Healthful living involves a paradox. Aim directly at health and one is sure to miss
the target. We must risk health to gain it. Health is expendable in genuine living; it
cannot be hoarded and “ saved for a rainy day. ” The miracle of human, health is a
many - splendored thing. It is rooted in man ’ s flesh, grows and develops in his heart and
mind, and flowers in his ethical and spiritual life.
Health is a moving, evolving target. Our model of health changes with the times.
The science - fiction dream of perfect health is a mirage, for as Rene Dubos (1959) has
pointed out, new times bring new health hazards and problems and new diseases.
Ecology of Disease
In health education, we have focused more on specific diseases than on models and
theories of disease — and this approach has serious limitations.
The complexity of human disease is indicated by the somewhat conflicting and
bewildering array of theories of disease that have been advanced. Some major
examples are the demoniac theory, divine theory, humoral theory, animal magnetism
theory, miasma theory, Christian Science theory, naturopathic theory, subluxation
theory, germ theory, psychosomatic theory, stress theory, psychoanalytic
theory, and the ecologic - epidemiologic theory of disease. As yet we are far from
having any fully and widely accepted unifi ed theory of disease, but we seem to be
aiming at that as an eventual goal. What the future holds remains to be seen. But
the ecologic - epidemiologic approach to disease etiology and cures and to prevention,
and control, does seem to provide a sufficiently broad theoretical framework
within which to work.
What is disease? No definitive answer can be given. As we now view it, disease is a
dynamic process involving any dis ease, disorder, dysfunction, or any pathological condition
of the body, mind, or personality. Strictly speaking, the whole person is always ill
or diseased. The range of disease is from critical illness to the milder disorders that occur
even in persons with optimum health. Disease is caused by multiple interacting variables
and co - factor agents, not usually by single factors acting alone —although Liebig ’s “law
of the minimum ” must be taken into account (1). Predisposing, precipitating (triggering),