Positive health and well-being

The essentials

Health is not just the absence of disease but a state of physical, mental and social well-being. Positive health includes a healthy body, good interpersonal relationships, a sense of purpose in life, self-regard, mastery of the environment and resilience to stress. Factors that buffer stress and promote positive health include diet, exercise, positive attitude, positive thinking and social support.

Key points

• Positive thinking includes optimism (expecting good outcomes) and is linked to better coping and health.
• Social support: the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely. Types: tangible support (material help such as money or goods), informational support (advice and information) and emotional support (expressing love, care and empathy).
• Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. It has been described in three parts: "I have" (social and interpersonal supports), "I am" (inner strengths) and "I can" (interpersonal and problem-solving skills).
• Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that help people deal with daily demands. Important ones include assertiveness (expressing feelings and needs clearly and confidently), time management, rational thinking, improving relationships, self-care and overcoming unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, avoidance and procrastination.
• Well-being involves feeling good and functioning well; happiness and satisfaction with life are part of it.

Exam tips

• Identify types of social support from examples: lending money is tangible; giving advice is informational; listening and comforting is emotional.

Common mistakes

• Confusing assertiveness with aggression; assertiveness respects others while stating one's needs.
• Treating perfectionism as a strength; in this context it is an unhelpful habit.