Health, according to the World Health Organization, is “a condition of full physical, emotional and social well being and not just the absence of illness and infirmity”. A wide variety of definitions have also been used over the years. In United States, health is defined as the state of being fit, happy and having a normal lifestyle. In addition, health is said to be related to the ability to relate to and handle one’s environment. These were among the first definitions of health.
There has been a lot of debate over what is health and illness. Health is generally believed to be absence of disease or death from illness. It can also be associated with quality of life, which means a person’s capacity to enjoy his day-to-day activities and participate in society. Quality of life can also be affected by absence of diseases or disability. It is a complex concept, because there are a number of factors that come into play, including definition of disease, onset of disease, duration of disease, and treatment of disease, the definition of health, and its impact on quality of life.
The third definition of health would be characterized as the maintenance of a capacity to perform one of its major functions. In simple terms, health would cover all those activities that make up human existence. These could be survival, growth, protection, mobility, pleasure, and so on. According to this third definition, when humans are sick they cannot perform their normal functions; when they are healthy, they cannot do the things that make up their normal function.
The fourth definition of health is the capacity to enjoy wellbeing. This simply means that people have control over their illnesses and they have the ability to control their wellbeing. In other words, when a person has an illness, he can still choose to enjoy his illness or not. This definition of illness and wellbeing overlaps, because some people who have physical illnesses, still manage to lead a relatively happy life, while people with mental illnesses cannot say the same.
The fifth definition of health is to have well-being. A well-lived life is characterized by a sense of well-being, and there is also a positive relationship between physical health and well-being. A person who experiences mental illness, however, does not share this characteristic with those who do not have mental disorders. People with mental illness usually experience depression as well as other kinds of health problems. The level of well-being varies with age, but the level of wellness is present in all people regardless of their age.
The lack of a positive relationship between physical health and well-being highlights the fact that illness results from a physical source. Illness, in its absence, means that we are not able to enjoy our normal life – which often results in depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, and many other negative feelings. It also means that we cannot use our mind in the best way possible, a situation that can hinder our creativity and our abilities to perform daily tasks.