PART 1
Health Locus of Control
PART 2
CONCLUSIONS
METHODS
DISCUSSION
APPENDIXES
Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever;
An Exploration into the Relationship Between Culture, Belief, and Health
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The state of our health has never been so riveting. News broadcasts, newspapers, and magazines habitually contain 'health watch' sections. AIDS, abortion, medicinal marijuana, and rising health care costs are top headlines. Political debates continue to explore these issues along with our far-from-universal health care system. Developing countries have other concerns; they rely on expensive imported medicine which threatens their economies, and soil degradation or development
impedes their ability to employ traditional forms of healing based on local plant growth (Bodeker, 1994).
While developing countries struggle to maintain adequate health care systems, the health care industry of the United States has become largely commercialized. According to Watkins (1996), "the United States now spends more than 12 percent of its gross national income product on health care" (p. 49), and he claims that the amount of time and money spent on health is unprecedented. One would not find this hard to believe upon examining some of the 'cures' currently on the market. There is a pill for virtually everything from Claratin which releases individuals who are allergy prone from their
seasonal allergies, to Ritalin, a blessing for the constant day dreamer.
Centerformenshealth.com advertises "5 Free Viagra Pills with initial
consultation." NyQuill tucks us into bed at night, and Vivarin keeps us going when sleep is not an option. Aging is
out-dated, and the "Juice Guy", anti-wrinkle creams, "washing that gray right out of your hair", Minoxidil 9/ Rogaine/
Propecia, and laser/ cosmetic surgery are in. We have patches to quit smoking and drinks to lose weight. Our quick cures
are all widely televised and in the mainstream stream of consciousness. Based on the precept that we will end suffering and
be endowed with perpetual happiness upon their use, these pre-packaged remedies are making pharmaceutical and other
health related industries millions.
Accompanying our dollars are scandals, debates, and breakthroughs in health care. Such is the state of our health: "We fall sick from unheard of ailments, we pass through undreamed of treatments, we die in unsettling new ways and places" (Morris, 1998, p. 3). Dr. Jack Kevorkian was recently sentenced for 'assisted suicide', while the debate continues as to whether those suffering have the right to appropriate someone for the purpose of preempting the 'term' of their terminal illness. On the other side of this issue are the tubes and IV's which keep us alive or even bring us back when we are on the brink of death, and the anxiety families must endure over if and when to 'pull the plug'. Malfunctioning organs are replaced,
even with organs of other species. The potential exists to clone animals for the purpose of improving human health (for certain anti-bodies, organs, etc.). Humans could hypothetically also be cloned, which would alter the course of
evolution and our conception of life forever. Sexual intercourse is no longer a requirement for the fertilization of a human
embryo (nor must the biological mother carry the child). 'Premies' survive incubation outside of the womb to lead healthy,
happy lives. The idea is even incubating in the American collective consciousness that a parent might one day be able to
program their child like a computer for sex, intelligence and natural ability. And Walt Disney's childhood fantasy about being
able to live forever is a popularized notion betrayed in part by the 'foresight' of this one man (who's 'Magic Kingdom' is still a
rather cold box).
The aforementioned are just a cross section of some of the issues going on in the pop-culture of Western health. Each
has its adversaries and proponents, but common to all is the Western emphasis on science, reductionism, and dualism. These
values are predominant in shaping our discourse regarding health matters in this country. Foregoing Western allopathic
treatments, many people are also turning their attention to traditional (complementary/ alternative) medicines which
emphasize the mind-body connection. Likewise, several models of medicine aside from the Western bio-medical model exist
and thrive in other areas of the world.
With the heightened attention and money being spent in the health arena, one might venture to ask what the main
variables which mediate one's health are, and specifically what causes a disruption in good health. Illness stems from a
multitude of causes, occurs in a wide range of 'normal people', is subject to disagreements over diagnoses, and often follows
an unpredictable course. There have been cases of spontaneous remission, and placebos have been known to mimic the
effects of treatment. The complexity of illness is betrayed by common facts such as these. What I wish to discover are some
of the influences which shape such health related phenomenon.
The state of one's health is the result of a complex interaction of physical and psychosocial factors, including such
Western cultural configurations (reductionism, for example) as I have mentioned above. The current state of our
biochemical and psycho-social evolution influences the variables which go into illness, the evaluation of illness, and the
methods of treatment sought/ employed. The spatio-temporal context manifests in our health in the following way: it
provides us with a framework for what we consider to be (ab)normal, and with whom and how we should interact to
restore, maintain, and improve health. Health is also determined by the degree of control one perceives one has over one's
health within this environmental and cultural framework, from Walt Disney's adventure into cryogenics on one extreme to
hypochondriasis on the other. I will turn my discussion now to the influence of perceived control over health, and will return
to the ostensible influence of culture in Part II.
