World Health Day 2022
In todays blog I’ll be going over some common themes around health and wellbeing that are especially relevant to today. The blog has been framed from my POV and although I would have loved to do a detailed paper looking at the different aspects surrounding human health this particular piece is biased in its reporting.
As a psychologist who’s studied health , and a music therapist who’s worked in rehabilitation setups , my understanding is informed by my experiences. The first health psychology lecture I attended at uni told us about healthand wellness continuum, from health to illness.
I found these wonderful diagram that go into this concept :
As you can probably guess ,we’re all just moving between these different parts. We’re always moving between these paradigms and trying to maintain a state of balance(equilibrium). The diagram below further explains this aspect of our functioning. When we’re health or reacting self care and social support does play an integral role while with injury or illness the assumption is that we need professional care.
My own personal journey with Lupus has taught me to care, to look at things that most people might not be worried about. In a sense I have become more Intune with my own thoughts and feelings and emotions. But before we move further I want to add that I personally think that getting professional help like going to a therapist isn’t just reserved to injury and illness. We lead complex lives that make it harder to function normally. Being afflicted by a disease is not the worst of our worries. It could be a conflict at work, a failed relationship or even an existential crisis. In my opinion therapy (just to give an example) is a form of self care and in that sense its applicable across the board. When a person with cancer undergoes treatment which includes chemo and radiation and oral medication they are constantly battling injury to their bodies. The cells are fighting amongst each other. Sometimes the cancer cells win and sometimes they don’t, regardless of the outcome you must endure it all. This is alot like Lupus and we’re constantly moving between the continuum, you could be in remission but it can also quickly turn into a flare up.
The other part of the diagram above are the emotions attached to each stage. According to Kubler Ross’s stages of grief one moves between denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. While I resonate with these stages I came across this article about how the model was developed. Turns out that it was based on the interviews that were conducted from individuals who were suffering from life threatening diseases.
And so, while this model is widely quoted when discussing grief and bereavement it is important to recognize its significance in health and illness as well. I remember reading about these 5 stages when I got diagnosed for the first time, while I do not have a life threatening illness I do have a clinically defined ‘chronic’ condition — one that I and so many like me must live with for a long time.
And our emotions definitely impact our health. Its a commonly believed notion but we don’t talk about it enough. When I was practicing yoga with a teacher I anecdotally discussed a little bit about how our thoughts manifest into emotions that impact our overall wellbeing. Think feelings of regret or loss or anger. On a general day when I feel any of these emotion I elicit a bodily response, this could be the tensing of the neck muscles or feeling a sense of heaviness or tension inside my head. The science of emotions and our reactions to emotions is a fascinating study that I would love to read about and explore but for this piece I'll stick to stuff I immediately thought of when I realized it was World Health Day.
Holistic Health — involves overall wellbeing. Its a multidimensional approach to health. And so instead of telling you to focus on your mental health, most people that believe in holistic health will recognize the whole person which includes their physical, mental ,emotional ,social and spiritual health. Its not a new concept but in a world where the physical health is often pitted against mental health things it is important to emphasize holistic health and treating the person keeping in mind their living situation, environment, social support and so much more.. I found this discussion on the philosophical analysis of the WHO’s health definition interesting . The definition came into being in 1948 and like most things that need an upgrade the possibility to improve upon the old definition exists . Although as far as I’m concerned the looser the definition, the more room there is to breathe. But I must confess that this is a constant struggle for me. Subjectivity does not bode well with scientific research and medical terminologies and so ,many authors have criticized the definition or suggested alternatives. In the next couple of pieces I hope I can bring to light some of my favorite topics in Health i.e. health behaviors including health harming and health promoting behaviors, framing health messages and public health campaigns.
Before I sign out a quick update from me. I’ve moved to a new city and started work as a writer. Currently my life revolves around a little bit of science communication and a whole of learning . In the words of Tai Verdes :
When I see trouble come my way (my way)
I be making lemonade (lemonade)
I know I’ll be A-O, A-O-K
I know I’ll be A-O, A-O-K (mmh-mh)
