Definition Essay On Health

You hear the word “health” tossed around everywhere these days but what does it actually mean? People often think of health as nutrition and diet and a lot of times we limit health to just our physical bodies, but it is actually so much more than that. Today, health is portrayed by the media as having ‘sharp abs and a big backside’ and is very much about working out and eating well in order to look good. The author feels that many people will agree that these are pretty terrible representations of health. Many people don’t realize that health also means feeling good inside and out. The author’s definition of health consists of the overall well-being of a person. This includes the physical, psychological and social aspect. If a person is seen

It’s important that there are different definitions of health because it’s a very broad subject. Although the author in this paper views it as one thing, someone else can have a much different perspective of the definition. In this paper, the author will address the importance of focusing on health from the holistic point of view rather than only the physical context.

The author’s definition of health doesn’t focus on only the ‘medical model’ but it also focuses on the holistic model (World Health Organization , n.d.). Although diet and exercise are important factors of health and do contribute to the overall definition, the real definition of health shouldn’t concentrate on only that prospect. Health is a journey and it consists of balance in all areas of someone’s life. The author feels like mental health is the most critical feature of health. If someone’s mental health is not strong, their physical and social well-being may not be either. The author states that mental health includes having positive self-esteem, low levels of stress and anxiety, and positive thought patterns. Having a

This also means that health is treated differently where it is viewed. Today, the most common form of health system is the Western Biomedical Model. The Western Biomedical Model of health focuses generally on the physical and the biological form of an illness. It relies mainly on drugs to help cure an illness. According to National Center for Biotechnology Information “This failure stems partly from three assumptions: all illness has a single underlying cause, disease (pathology) is always the single cause, and removal or attenuation of the disease will result in a return to health.” (Halligan & Wade, 2004). In this model, the primary focus is to diagnose and treat the disease. For example, the increase in vaccinations in the western society aids in decreasing the amount of people who fall ill due to various illnesses. Another approach to the health structure includes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which dates back to over 2,500 years ago. TCM commenced in ancient China approximately 2,500 years ago. Unlike the Western Biomedical Model of health, the Traditional Chinese Medicine model uses herbal medicines to promote health and treat diseases. Another exercise used in Traditional Chinese Medicine is acupuncture. This method of healing uses needles to stimulate points on the body (National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health, 2013). Lastly, another approach to the health system that has been around for a very