We have known for some time now that disease and wellness are connected with the social world of relationships and the psychological world of self and others. This essay treats the complexity of that interrelationship.

I'd like to include smoking here. I think this would be a good place for an oral history of smokers of all ages. To what extent does the social factor of sharing still affect the decision to smoke? Cigarettes were once the only commodity that we could freely exchange. It was socially acceptable to ask for or to offer a cigarette to almost anyone. How much of that effect is still operative? How strong is the label of "smoker" now and what effect does that have on smoking?

I hope the smoking example will give you some sense of how strongly the social pervades health issues. We are social beings. And we consequently are affected by our interpersonal relationships in our concepts and our activities relating to wellness.

The resources listed below are related to life-threatening illness and how that enters our social sphere. They are up now because some of you will want to consult them before we get to teaching essays on the material.

More to come . . .

External Site Resources:

• Living Beyond Limits: Psychosocial Treatment Laboratory Stanford Medical School, Dr. David Spiegel, Director. Contains summariies of studies. Focuses on cancer, HIV, life-threatening diseases.

• Los Angeles Center for traumatic stress and sudden bereavement, "Services children and adolescents in South-Central Los Angeles. . . . With early intervention, our mission is to prevent the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as well as associated disorders including Major Depression and Substance-Related Disorders."