During history, there have been many different philosophies of wellness that have been both proven

and disproven over time: the philosophies of the ancient Greeks, Ayurvedic medicine, Tibetan medicine,
and traditional Chinese medicine. The Greeks based their medicine off of the idea that Mother Nature
was a healing goddess, and that with the right amount of time and condition nature can heal everything;
however, that does not mean that the Greeks did not come up with medical treatments, just that their
treatments tended to be holistic or natural (Greek Medicine, 2015). The Greeks believed that disease
and dysfunction were caused by a person lacking harmony with the natural environment that
surrounded them which caused healers to try to treat patients by restoring their harmony to help bring
the patient back into balance with the world. The ancient Greek medicine system seems to have been
based on the emotional, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of wellness.

Ayurvedic medicine originated in India and is one of the world’s oldest forms of medicine. Ayurvedic
medicine involves treatment plans that encompass herbal compounds and special diets. Ayurvedic
treatments are made from either herbs or a mixture of herbs, metals, and minerals; while these
treatments can be effective many of the herbs have side effects and certain metals can be toxic and/or
poisonous. Ayurvedic medicine seems to be based entirely on the physical dimension of wellness as it is
built on diet through either special diets or herbal remedies and mixtures. This type of medicine does
not consider psychological and social factors at all; this could lead to difficulty in treating a person whose
symptoms are psychologically based. While as Tibetan medicine is based on Buddhist philosophy and
psychology. Their treatments consider three major aspects which are: body, energy and mind (Tibetan
Medicine Education Center, 2015). However, where the biopsychosocial model considers all three
aspects for treatment, the Tibetan medicine is based on the belief that “the three principles give
positive health when they are in equilibrium and harmony, and bring ill health when the balance
between them is lost” (Tibetan Medicine Education Center, 2015). The Tibetan medicine seems to
involve the emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual dimensions of wellness in both diagnosing and
treatment of patients.

Lastly, traditional Chinese medicine has continued to evolve over the years to the point that it has its
own place in modern medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine is based off the use of herbal medicines as
well as mind and body practices; some examples of these practices are acupuncture and tai chi which
can be used both to treat and prevent health problems from occurring (NIH, 2016). Traditional Chinese
medicine is safe if the patient is being treated by a knowledgeable practitioner and that all herbal
remedies are checked for contaminants and drug reactions prior to use. Traditional Chinese medicine
seems to be holistically based and involves the emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions of wellness
in its practices and treatments.

Prior to beginning my research for this weeks’ discussion, I had never considered the effect that ancient
medicine has on modern medicine. I found the traditional Chinese medicine to be the most interesting
because I never truly thought about how acupuncture and tai chi were ancient Chinese medical
practices or the amazing fact that they are still used today. I find it fascinating that none of the different
philosophies involved all eight dimensions of wellness in their treatments, but that most of them
comprise several of the dimensions.

Greek Medicine. (2015). Basic principles of natural healing in Greek medicine. Retrieved

http://www.greekmedicine.net/introduction.html

NIH. (2016). Traditional Chinese Medicine: In Depth

Retrieved https://nccih.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm

Tibetan Medicine Education Center. (2015). Tibetan Medicine. Retrieved

http://www.tibetanmedicine-edu.org/index.php/the-tibetan-medicine