Water, health and the body: the tide, undercurrent and surge of meanings

Abstract

Water has meaning for health, illness and wellbeing. Central themes of meaning can be identified consistently throughout history, sometimes easily discernible, while at other times more difficult to identify. These meanings have a substantial social dimension, and reflect physical and bodily interactions with water. This article considers how these aspects of water have caused specific meanings of water to be prioritized by the medical world and the general public throughout history. It focuses on different medical and everyday settings such as traditional forms of medicine, therapeutic and curative practices in seaside sanatoria and spas, and public health initiatives. Different meanings of water can still be identified in contemporary health, where they are used to encapsulate and express an extraordinary range of experiences, meanings and values about health, illness and wellbeing. These meanings of water are related to the emergence of a new health consciousness in which responsibility for health has shifted from society to the individual. Water’s meanings reflect tensions that arise from preventive health programs and the health industry, and provide avenues for expressing social identity for various groups within Western cultures.

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