4 Dimensions Of Wellness - Dimensions Of Health

There are four major dimensions of health included in the WHO definition of health-physical, mental, social and spiritual, Besides these much more may be cited, e.g., emotional, vocational, political, philosophical, cultural, socioeconomic, environmental, educational, nutritional, curative and preventive. 

1. Physical Dimension:

It is concerned with physical health and conceptualizes health biologically as a state in which every cell and every organ are functioning at optimum capacity and in perfect harmony with the rest of the body.

2. Mental dimension:

* It conceptualizes that mental health is not the mere absence of mental illness. It defines mental health as "A state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others, coexistence between the realities of the self and that of other people, and that of the environment"

* A recent concept of mental dimension is that psychological factors can induce all kinds of illness, not simply mental ones, such as essential hypertension, peptic ulcer and bronchial asthma.

3. Social Dimension:

* It conceptualizes that a human being cannot achieve in isolation his or her full potential in any aspect of his or her life including health. Social health takes into account that every individual is a part of a family which again is a component of community and society at large. Thus, health has a component of social well-being.

* The social dimension of health includes the levels of social skills of an individual, social functioning and the ability to see oneself as a member of a large society.

 4. Spiritual Dimension:

* As a spiritual dimension of human civilization has an important role in fashioning and meaning human life both as an individual and as a member of the society, so it has an impact on health and disease.

* Spiritual dimension includes human integrity, principles and ethics, meaning and purpose of human existence, commitment to a higher being and certain beliefs and concepts that are not subject to ordinary reasoning.