University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository
Abstract
People have long perceived a connection between mental and even physical illness and spiritual anguish. Yet, modem culture tends to view both types of illness from an increasingly medical perspective, seeking a genetic or environmental explanation. In most cases, this medical model is probably the best approach, even if it is imperfect. First, the purely medical explanation may be accurate. Second, even if it is not accurate, treating the symptoms of a disease with a spiritual source is probably far easier than treating the source itself. Ultimately, however, we must take note that disease is often not the result of genetics or environment in the scientific sense
