Health and Wellness As Related Categories
Health is a condition of bodily, emotional and mental well-being where infirmity and disease are absent. A number of definitions have been employed over the years for different applications. It basically covers the whole of the body, including the mind, emotions, behavior and spirit. This definition of health is an essential part of the Hippocratic Corpuscles which regards health as a basic right of man. According to this set of ethics, the man is obligated to lead a healthy life by avoiding dangerous occupations, excessive pain, drunkenness, and indulging in sexual activity.
In other words, we consider that a person’s good health is the result of a combination of all his or her capabilities with regard to bodily and mental health. The definition of good health continues to change as newer methods of diagnosing illnesses, defining health and creating preventive strategies become available. This also underlines the fact that good health depends on having a balance between sickness and wellness.
For example, in defining health care, the focus is given on the patient’s total wellness. Thus, it is considered bad form to treat only one aspect of the condition (sickle cell anemia for example) when the overall health is very poor. Similarly, people with chronic conditions are not given the attention they need, despite the fact that they can be effectively treated. This is because for every patient, the general population suffers from some form of disease or illness, and drugs may be the best means of treatment for these patients.
Another important concept that characterizes the field of health is the concept of infirmity. According to this view, all persons are born healthy but become unhealthy over time as a result of their social, cultural and other environments. It is then believed that illness arises when the delicate tissues surrounding a person and their body are injured. For this reason, mental illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder are not merely the absence of disease, but symptomatic manifestations of an underlying problem.
The study of health has been expanded over the past few years and has now been incorporated into many policy areas, like public health, nutrition, social well-being, drug use and health insurance. This means that, besides looking at health from a physical perspective, the social and psychological aspects have to be taken into account as well. Mental disorders like depression and bipolar disorder have been shown to lead to poor economic outcomes, so they should be treated as early as possible and accordingly. Similarly, general health and well-being are also affected by the mental well-being of the society in which we live. While being depressed may not directly lead to crime or violence, the negative consequences of such actions may still have an effect on society as a whole, causing poverty, inequality and a decreasing social welfare state.
It is therefore clear that health, as it relates to the general well-being of the society, should not be taken for granted. The definition of “public health” refers to the entire concept of the country’s well being as a whole, rather than the individual aspects of health such as fitness, smoking, eating habits etc., and thus, public health is all about the general wellness of the society as a whole. However, in order to attain this goal, it is important to address the issue of mental health as well, since such issues tend to run parallel with other health issues.