iatrochemical school of thought

a school of thought, active from the early 16th to the mid-17th centuries, which held that disease resulted from chemical imbalances in the body and that, conversely, health and longevity resulted from the proper balance of chemicals. It also held that disease was to be treated chemically and that drugs could be chemically produced. This view was heavily influenced by the work of Swiss chemist and physician Paracelsus (1493–1541) and developed in opposition to the theories of Galen, still prevalent at that time, holding that diseases resulted from an imbalance of bodily humors. The iatrochemical school provided the impetus for the development of modern pharmaceutical laboratories and modern chemotherapy. See also iatrophysical school of thought.

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Psychology term of the day

January 30th 2025

accommodative coping

a stress-management strategy in which a person adjusts his or her preferences and orientations to suit given situational forces and constraints. Involving a devaluation of, or disengagement from, blocked goals and a lowering of personal performance standards and aspirations, accommodative coping thus represents a neutralization rather than an active solution of a particular problem. Accommodative processes generally appear following repeated unsuccessful attempts to change the situation through assimilative coping. Additionally, accommodative processes are thought to be more prominent in later life, when individuals tend to experience an increasingly unfavorable balance of developmental gains and losses. [identified in 1990 by Jochen Brandtstädter and Gerolf Renner, German psychologists]