In some indigenous communities, which still use natural forms of medicine, the ill person is seen as expressing guilt, and there is a need for atonement, or at-one-ment, in order to resolve the illness. This atonement is based on the libation paid to the ancestors, so the entire community can assuage the feeling of guilt. It is with the consensus of the tribe that the individual is then forgiven, the guilt resolved, and the illness cured. The individual is not treated as an isolated entity, but part of the community, because his illness also affects the community.

The basic healing process occurring in the above example is faith. The success of many non-traditional approaches is dependent upon the recipients of the treatment believing that it will work. A more wholistic approach to the treatment of human disease, understanding the power which thought processes and expectations can have on the course of the disease combined with traditional medical approaches will yield increasing dividends to medical research and be very cost-efficient.

The Placebo Effect
Prof. Hans Eysenck, Professor of Psychology at the University of London, and Professor Herbert Benson, the Harvard Physician, have said that the placebo effect plays an enormous part in the cure of illness, accounting for up to 50% of cures. The patient's belief that the placebo will cure them is another form of faith.

Herbert Benson has said that the brain is "hard-wired" for faith, and that if people have a belief in something, they have passion for themselves and for others. This creates a tremendous generative force within the context of their own minds and bodies, as well as in the context of the hearts and minds of others.

Dr Candice Pert, one of the pioneers of psycho-neuro-immunology has done innovative research into the mind-body connection. Her research has shown that there are numerous lines of communication between the brain and the body in addition to synaptic nerve connections. Peptides, including hormones, neuro-transmitters, neuro-modulators, growth factors, gut peptides, cytokines and chemokines, are informational substances distributing information throughout the organism. They are found in the body organs and systems as well as in the brain, and are also the basis of emotions, behaviours and memory.

What we don't realise is the power of faith. Not enough research has been done into the significance of placeba response. Henry Beecher, Prof. Of Anesthesiology at Harvard reviewed available medical literature and found that placebos are on the average 55% as powerful as the drugs being tested or the condition being treated.Herbert Benson, Physician, Harvard Medical School has said the brain is hard wired for faith. Suzanne Ouellete, New York City University found that people who stay healthy under significant stress have three factors of stress hardiness namely, control, commitment and challenge. I may further add that the basis of health lies in lifestyle factors rather than the biomedical values of contemporary medicine. These lifestyle factors are based on three legs of a stool. Mastery of life, release of stress and support of the community. Adding these to the factors of stress hardiness gives us a way of coping with the current crisis that humanity is undergoing.