Physical Well-Being
While physical well-being is essential to health, the term wellness when used by health professionals, has a much broader meaning. In fact if you are studying how to become an accountant, or a nutritionist, it is important to understand how the two concepts of wellness and health fit together. Think of an automobile and how the transmission works in it. Having a disease or an illness can be compared to putting an automobile in reverse. Absence of disease or relatively good health would put your car in neutral, and positive health changes and steps toward wellness would put your car into drive or forward motion. When your lifestyle is based on health enhancing behaviors, you're in high gear and going at top speed and you've achieved total wellness.
In wellness, health and sickness may show a considerable overlap in the functioning of the mind, body and spirit. In recent decades, scientists have shown a major role in psychological factors enhancing physical well-being and preventing illness. In addition, they can also trigger, worsen, or even prolong physical well-being by preventing illness. Unfortunately psychological symptoms can also trigger, worsen or prolong physical symptoms. The mind clearly can have a profound effect on every aspect of physiological functioning. Individuals who are chronically angry, pessimistic, anxious, worrying, or depressed are proven to be more susceptible to stress and illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Similarly almost every medical illness affects people psychologically as well as physically. An example of this would be depression. It is commonly shown that individuals who suffer kidney failure or neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease also suffered from depression. Understanding the various dimensions of health can help you appreciate the complex interactions of your body and mind.
