How is Your Health?

I only ask because it matters.

First, let’s get a definition of health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as: “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The WHO has adopted the Bio-Psycho-Social Model of health. I like it. Healthy people have high levels of Well-being.

Why does this matter?

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion began a website back in the 1990s (HealthyPeople.gov) to monitor the health of Americans.

Here is what they said: “People with higher levels of well-being judge their life as going well. They feel very healthy and full of energy to take on their daily activities. They’re satisfied, interested, and engaged with their lives. They experience a sense of accomplishment from their activities and judge their lives to be meaningful. These people are more often content or cheerful than depressed or anxious. They get along with others and experience good social relationships. Personal factors, social circumstances, and community environments influence well-being.”

Being healthy affects your quality of life. There, I said it. If, as Mental Health Professionals, we only focus on your mental health, we are not helping you!

I am not satisfied with just addressing your mental health issues. As such, I’m going to provide several postings that will focus on Nutrition and Fitness.

I want to start by asking you to complete an assessment that was developed by the Rand Health. It’s called the SF-36. It’s free. It will measure the impact that your health is having on your quality of life. I took it and scored a 95 out of 100. Here is the link: https://www.rand.org/health/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form.html

Let me know how you scored, I look forward to continuing the conversation about mental health in the comments!