ILLNESS IN (POST)MODERN SOCIETIES - IS PS YCHOSOMATIC-MEDICINE MAINTAINING ITS GROUND

The paper describes the scientific development psychosomatic medicine has undergone in the last decades, as well as the politically induced changes in the German Health Care system. In three future scenarios th e dangers of a) biological and b) voluntaristic schools of thought are presented along with the c) consequences of ecological destruction an d economic power. The increasing trend for psychosomatic medicine to u se salutogentic models is discussed as a feasible approach for the pre vention of fear-provoking perspectives.