The conception of the heart in the classical tradition and in popular medicine
provides the explanatory model that links physical sensations of heart
abnormality to affective states and the experience of social stress. It provides the
theoretical framework for the expression of stresses peculiar to Iranian society
and to Maragheh in the idiom of the heart. But why are certain particular
stresses most commonly believed to cause heart distress? Why, for example, is
the contraceptive pill so generally believed to cause heart distress? Why are
certain social stresses believed to cause heart distress, others to cause fright,
nervous distress, 'anger' (asabanilix), or depression? A proper semantic theory
should allow us to explore the meaning of these disease categories in a fashion
which answers such questions. It should direct our attention to the integration
of these illness categories into their psychosocial context in Maragheh.