The above examples illustrate how the mind and body interact and incite influence over each other in this process. Psychosomatic refers to the interaction between mind and body illustrated above. The term psychosomatic, however, has taken on a variety of definitions since its inception. It is thus important to specify which interpretation of the term is being used for this analysis. The DSM-IV now refers to psychosomatic as 'psychological factors affecting medical condition', also exhibiting a unidirectional bias.
Health is a natural state.
Illness is an imbalance in homeostasis. Just because the mind exerts influence over our physical body, does not negate the fact that physical factors are involved in every aspect of health. Factitious or somatoform disorders, which do rely more heavily on psychic forces, will not be addressed in this study. What I am considering is that the mind and body are not autonomous, mutually exclusive systems.