**2.4 Background of health psychology to public health**

The recognition of health psychology as a designated field is widely acknowledged. The relationship between mind and body and the effect of one upon the other has always been a controversial topic amongst philosophers, psychologists and physiologists. Within psychology, the development of the study of psychosomatic disorders owes much to Freud [3]. It has been observed in the recent studies that more deaths are caused now by heart disease, cancer and strokes which are by-product of changes in lifestyles in the twentieth century. Psychologists can be instrumental in investigating and influencing lifestyles and behaviours which are conducive or detrimental to good health [3].
