In therapy, we often have conversations about the causes and symptoms of mental illness, but it’s just as important to explore the causes and characteristics of wellness. According to the National Wellness Institute, wellness is defined as “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.” Simply put, wellness refers to the state of optimal mental and physical health that results from focused effort. It is the active pursuit of activities and lifestyle choices that lead to holistic health. Just as it empowers patients to practice preventative healthcare, you can protect yourself from mental health problems and strengthen your recovery by investing in wellness strategies. In this post, I will describe a model for wellness developed by Dr. Bill Hettler, which includes 6 dimensions.

Dimension One: Physical

Physical wellness is thriving in terms of your body’s health. The more energy you have physically, the better able you are to accomplish goals and overcome challenges as they arise. Scientific research has also revealed a positive correlation between physical and emotional health, which means that your body and mind are connected. Physical wellness does not mean going to the doctor when you’re sick, or reacting to disease when it arises. Instead, physical wellness is proactively attending to your physical health needs to prevent illness, injury, and disease.

There are many measures of physical wellness, including your body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol level, and blood glucose level. Signs of physical thriving include strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, and a strong immune system that recovers quickly. Other signs of physical thriving include feeling energetic, enjoying sports or physical activities, and having positive feelings about your body. Following are examples of behaviors that support physical wellness:

• Following guidelines for balanced nutrition
• Getting 30 minutes of exercise a day
• Taking safety precautions to prevent injuries
• Avoiding health risks including tobacco and alcohol
• Practicing safe sex to prevent sexually transmitted diseases
• Completing annual health exams and screenings with your healthcare provider

Resources that can help you strengthen your physical wellness include MyPlate.gov, which provides nutrition guidelines; this free body mass index calculator provided by the National Institutes of Health; this guide on Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans; resources on sexual health through Planned Parenthood; and the National Healthcare Marketplace (also known as “Obama Care”) where you can search for subsidized individual health plans in your state.

Dimension Two: Social

Social wellness is thriving in your relationships, on all levels. There are many levels of relationships that we experience: intimate one-on-one relationships with romantic partners, family relationships with parents and siblings, close friendships, acquaintances, and relationships with our local and larger communities. Because humans are a social species, we do not thrive independently like some animals do, such as the wolverine, shark, or the spotted snow leopard. Humans have survived as tribal animals and this remains our greatest strength and vulnerability as a species. Even though human beings experience various degrees of extroversion and introversion, where some prefer being around other people (extroverts) and some prefer being by themselves (introverts), the truth remains that we all need other people to help us survive and meet complex needs.

Signs of social thriving include feeling emotional connections with other people; being able to trust others; feeling comfortable with emotional vulnerability; being able to share power and responsibilities with others; using effective communication and social skills; and having respect and compassion for all people, including strangers outside of your close relationships and people who are very different from you.

Some of the problems with social wellness that I see in my work as a college therapist include students who are recovering from abusive relationships, young adults who are unsure about dating and intimacy, and students who are missing necessary family and social supports. I also work with students who are distressed by social injustices including discrimination, prejudice, racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

Behaviors that support social wellness include spending time with people who respect you and share your values, keeping healthy boundaries in relationships, seeking guidance from positive mentors, practicing assertive communication when problems arise in relationships, and showing fairness and compassion toward others.

Resources that can help you strengthen your social wellness include the website Meetup.com for discovering interest groups near you, articles on healthy relationships at LoveisRespect.org, Volunteers of America programs for helping members in your community, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Human Rights Campaign.

Dimension Three: Intellectual

Intellectual wellness is thriving in the ways you use your mind/intellect. Intellectual wellness contributes to resiliency and helps protect you from mental suffering. Developing your mind helps you successfully navigate the world by evaluating misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories, and to make more effective choices in your life. Some signs of intellectual thriving include:

• Feeling curious about yourself, others, and the world
• Wanting to learn about different subjects and investing in education
• Feeling inspired and exploring creative interests
• Exercising rational thinking
• Making wise judgments
• Using strategies for effective problem solving

Some of the problems with intellectual wellness that I see in my work as a college therapist include students who often feel bored or disinterested in their classes, problems with rational thinking, and challenges with problem solving.

To strengthen your intellectual wellness, make conscious efforts to invest in your interests, stay up-to-date on local and global news, take on challenges like reading a book every month, practice mindfulness of distorted thinking patterns, and explore different models for problem solving. Some helpful books on these topics include Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg, which describes mental models for solving problems; Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scare, Why It Matters, by Steven Pinker; and Calling Bullshit by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West, a handbook on evaluating news and information.

Dimension Four: Spiritual

Spiritual wellness is thriving in terms of the deeper meaning or purpose in life. Having a sense of purpose means having a deep passion and love for a cause, which is usually something greater than yourself. In Japan, this sense of purpose is called ikigai; the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. When you think of the darkest times in your life, what helped you persevere? What is your family, your children, God? In my work, I’ve had the opportunity to discover a range of meaning and purpose that people find in their lives. For some, their purpose is to make the world a better place. For others, it’s to succeed. I often hear from people that they live and persevere for their families and loved ones. I can remember more than one client who told me their reason for living and persevering was their pet.

If you are unsure about your purpose, this free online Purpose in Life quiz can provide helpful feedback. The Purpose in Life quiz is based on the Claremont Purpose Scale developed by psychologists Kendall Bronk, Brian Riches, and Susan Mangan. It might also help to journal about the following questions:

• If you had to go to war and fight to the death to defend something important to you, what would it be?
• If you had to live one day over and over again for the rest of your life, what would you do?
• If success were promised in one area in your life, which area would you choose?

Some signs of spiritual thriving include: feeling complete and connected to a larger reality, whether that’s to nature, the larger human community, or to God; experiencing transcendence beyond your personal awareness; having “peak” experiences of self-actualization, which include joy, awe, and bliss (according to the psychologist Abraham Maslow).

Some of the problems with spiritual wellness that I see working as a college therapist include students who feel something is missing in their life, when someone lacks a feeling of family or community, or when a student feels discontent event when their life is going well on the surface.

Some books that can help you strengthen your spiritual wellness include Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Fankl, Flourishing by Martin Seligman (one of the foremost researchers in the field of positive psychology), and The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.

Dimension Five: Emotional

Emotional wellness is thriving in terms of your emotions. Thriving emotionally in this sense means having strong emotional literacy (vocabulary for identifying and describing your emotions), having awareness and acceptance of your emotions, using effective strategies for coping with your emotions and expressing them, and using healthy strategies for getting your emotional needs met.

Despite cultural influences which suggest that there are good and bad emotions, the truth is human beings and other animals developed emotions as necessary tools for survival. Evolutionary theories of emotions argue that humans have five basic emotions, and they all serve an important function: fear helps us move away from hazards, anger helps us fight off a threat, sadness signals to others our need for comfort and caring, happiness/excitement inspires us to explore and procreate, and disgust moves us away from things that could poison or corrupt us. There are also psychological theories of emotions, including the Wheel of Emotions developed by Robert Plutchik.

Psychological research suggests that some people are more emotionally sensitive than others due to genetics and differences in sensory-processing sensitivity. Some researchers estimate that 10-15% of the population are people who fall into this highly-sensitive category. Consider this example:

Two siblings with similar genetic makeup and similar background are walking down the street, when they both see a puppy walking toward them. One sibling notes, “Oh look, what a cute little puppy,” while the other squeals with glee, “Oh my gosh he’s the cutest little puppy in the whole world! I love him!”

Although both siblings experienced the same stimulus, they both experienced very different emotional reactions to that stimulus. What this means is that for highly-sensitive people, their emotions are more easily triggered, their emotions tend to be more intense, and their emotions tend to take longer to come back down to baseline, than non-sensitive types. Having differences in sensory-processing sensitivity can be a gift and advantage when it comes to art, music, or work that requires empathy. It can also be a vulnerability depending on someone’s environment, stress, and level of emotion regulation skills.

Of course, much of the work we do in therapy has to do with managing emotions. There are many psychotherapeutic treatments that can help you manage anxiety, sadness and depression, anger, grief, guilt, shame, etc. If you are struggling to manage your emotions, please connect with a therapist near you. General resources that can help strengthen your emotional wellness include journal prompts for connecting with your emotions, free self-care and mood tracking apps to help you investigate trends in your emotions, and books about emotions including The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron or The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith.

Dimension Six: Occupational

Occupational wellness is thriving in your job or career. Having work that matters to you and contributes to your sense of purpose in life is a factor for long-term happiness. Signs of occupational thriving include enjoying your work, feeling appreciated at work, having opportunities to grow and advance at work, and having good work/life balance. Some of the problems with occupational wellness that I see in my work as a college therapist are students who do not enjoy their work or have problems with relationships at work, when they are unsure which career field to pursue, or when their personal issues impact their work.

Some resources that can help strengthen your occupational wellness include books with career assessments, including Do What You Are by Pual Tieger; and The Pathfinder by Nichlas Love. You can also complete a psychological personality assessment to discover how well your strengths and personality traits match with your career. One classic personality assessment is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and the Big 5 Personality Test.

Conclusion

The 6 Dimension of Wellness provides a helpful guide for checking-in with yourself on a regular basis. Reflecting on wellness often will strengthen your resiliency and improve satisfaction with yourself and your life. The National Wellness Institute also provides wellness assessments and free tools that you can use to more thoroughly explore opportunities for improved wellness in these 6 areas. Including your family and friends in these exercises is one way you can combine social wellness strategies with your regular self-care routine.