Dr. Elmore recognized early in his medical career that many of his patients were suffering from conditions that he had not been trained to deal with effectively in medical school, internship and residency training. Over time as he sought to help these patients, he realized that stress was often the primary cause of the problem, and it was being expressed in a physical way. Other patients had a primary organic disease process which was made worse by the stress in their lives. The use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety agents helped some people deal with the issues in their lives but did not solve the underlying problems.
In the Bible, man is said to have been created with a body, soul and spirit. Each of these aspects are distinct but yet inseparable. True "wholistic" medical care must take into consideration each of these aspects. Disease processes can originate in any of these three aspects. Most people are familiar with the term psychosomatic disease. "Psycho" refers to the soul which includes the mind, intellect and emotional nature of man. The "soma" refers to the body. Hence, psychosomatic means mind-body disorders. The term "pneuma" means spirit. I use the term "pneumopsychosomatic" to refer to disorders that are a combination of spirit-mind-body. Virtually all disorders are some combination these. For example, even if you fall and break a leg, there is often a strong mental component associated with this event. The injury may prevent you from working or playing the sport you love. This creates mental stress which affects the soma or body.
In the United States, the term "spirituality" is widely used. But, spirituality although widespread is often superficial and poorly understood. Most people have little or no understanding of what their spirit is all about. Dr. Elmore believes that many Americans suffer from a condition he calls "spiritual malnutrition." Although people eat to nourish their bodies and do any number of things to nourish their souls (viz. taking a vacation, resting, going to a spa, etc.), they do not know how to nourish their spirit. A complete discussion of this can be found in his book Stress & Spirituality.
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