how healthy are you

How healthy are you?

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How healthy are you?

Various dimensions of health have been described in literature. One can only be said to be whole or well if all and not part of these dimensions are noted to be fine. There are five main dimensions, which include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social. It is always important to ensure that all these parameters are kept within their normal ranges to ensure full functionality in the individual. Also important to note is that a significant change or imbalance in one might lead to a drastic subsequent effect on the other. There are scores given quantitatively on the different parameters individually which one can use to identify their total level of wellness .

To begin with, there is the physical health. This refers to the wellness of the body of an individual. It encompasses the human diseases that may arise from the body. Wellness in this aspect refers to the absence of disease or infirmity. The health scale ranges from extremely poor to optimal. However, there are intermediates including very poor, poor, fair, average, good, very good and excellent. It is very important to note that the physical diseases may occur singly or in combination. Others may be curable or incurable; all these are what determine the score to be accorded in the said individual .

A derangement in the physical aspect may interfere with the other parameters in health for instance; it may greatly interfere with the mental and social aspect of wellbeing. An unhealthy individual may find it very hard trying to adjust in the social circles since they are often feeling unwell. In addition, they may become severely depressed which may interfere with their mental health and further lead to worse outcomes .

The second aspect is the mental health. This mainly deals with the functioning of the brain and all that revolves around it. There are certain mental conditions that may worsen an individual’s physical health and vice versa. Conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders among several others often interfere with the general functioning of the individual. They may interfere with the social aspect in that the disease causes a maladjustment in the family circles. This is often mainly because the other individuals around the patient might often poorly understand the condition and therefore having poor social communications with the individual. In addition, it grossly affects the emotional being of both the patient and those around them .

This is usually mainly because such conditions often create a financial and emotional strain for all those involved and may ultimately lead to dire consequences. There are often expensive drugs to be bought, several admissions, and occasional outbursts of emotion from the patients. These aspects often require professional guidance, which may not be easily available .

The third aspect is the emotional wellbeing. This mainly deals with an individual’s mood as guided by how they feel and the hormones that control their bodies. One’s emotions may greatly affect their mental and physical wellbeing since all these parameters usually operate in tandem. If an individual is stresses for instance over marital issues, they may have certain sudden outbursts that may lead to a failure of eating that subsequently may affect their physical health. Besides, individuals who are terminally in may have very low moods and have difficulty in relating with other because of their poor health. This may in turn make their conditions worse .

The fourth aspect is the social aspect. This mainly refers to the situation whereby an individual is able to create healthy and important relationships with the people they interact with frequently. This mainly looks at the individual’s family relationship and the friends that they are able to keep. This is because these are often the basic functioning units and support systems of individuals whose absence may be quite detrimental to the physical health of a person .

The final aspect is the spiritual dimension. This mainly deals with the beliefs of an individual, especially the faith beliefs. It also incorporates an individual’s plans for their purposes in life and beyond. This aspect generally determines the functioning of the social and physical units as well. This is because people often use spiritual gatherings as an avenue for social development, which greatly improves their lives in entirety. Furthermore, when the spiritual aspect is in a good level, even when the physical being is poor, better outcomes are noted since the individual’s belief will override the patients feeling over their illness. They will also have faith in their recovery, which often has a positive outcome in the patients involved .

Personally, I score the highest in the physical, mental and spiritual aspects. The point that I am presently has really interfered with my emotional and spiritual wellbeing but I bet this will be better in a few months’ time. I therefore need to improve in these aspects as soon as possible to ensure they do not interfere with my other aspects of wellbeing. The three goals that I can therefore set include, first, to find a way to attend the spiritual gatherings given my very busy schedule. This will automatically bring this aspect up. Next, I need to work more on my emotions and learn what not to over think about since this creates a problem in my emotional aspect. Thirdly, I need to find a hobby to boost my emotions and make me feel better in the times that my moods are very low .

The health risks associated with poor physical health include the development of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease. When one fails to work on their physical health say by avoiding eating healthy, shunning physical exercises, they may develop lifestyle diseases that often have no cure and the individuals may have to be on medications for the rest of their lives. The exceptions of this however are in the individuals who have genetic susceptibility to these conditions. The long-term consequences are that they may develop complications due to these conditions, which include kidney, heart and other organ failures .

There are certain risks to health associated with excessive stress. Individuals respond differently to their stress levels. Depending on the technique mounted by the individual, different conditions may arise. For instance, they may fail to take good care of themselves. This may be in the form of poor feeding habits and poor self-care. This greatly influences the physical state of wellbeing. It may lead to the development of infections that could have been avoided had they eaten better and taken care of themselves better. On the contrary, there are those who overfeed when stressed .

This may greatly increase their weight, their blood sugar levels and their lipid levels. These three are the foulest combination as they may lead to the development of conditions such as myocardial infarctions, stroke and even Type two diabetes mellitus. These are severe conditions that well poorly managed often have a very poor prognosis. Moreover, stress may interfere with the emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing of an individual in the long term .

The mind body connection is a phenomenon in which one’s mind affects how their body reacts. It actually means that one’s thoughts, feelings and perceptions have a role in their physical wellbeing. Therefore, for instance, if one has negative thoughts and depression among other negative feeling then their bodies will also respond negatively and they may in turn end up with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes type two or coronary heart disease like previously explained. If one has positive thoughts then they are bound to have better physical health. One can improve their mind-body connection in several ways. These include having positive attitudes towards life, avoiding negative thoughts, finding new ways to relieve emotional stress and freeing your mind off too much thinking. All these lead to better outcomes and ensure the mind-body connection works effectively .