The Six main Dimensions of Wellness and there definitions are:
1. Physical
The first dimension, physical well-being, is reflected in how well the body performs its intended functions. Absence of disease—although an important influence—is not the sole criterion for health. The physical domain is influenced by your genetic inheritance, nutritional status, fitness level, body composition, and immune status, to name just a few factors.
2. Intellectual
Intellectual well-being is the ability to process information effectively. It involves the capability to use information in a rational way to solve problems and grow. This dimension includes issues such as creativity, spontaneity, and openness to new ways of viewing situations. To maintain a high level of intellectual wellbeing, you must seek knowledge and learn from your experiences. Ideally, your college experiences will have added to your intellectual well-being.
3. Emotional
Emotional well-being means being in touch with your feelings, having the ability to express them, and being able to control them when necessary. Optimal functioning involves the understanding that emotions are the mirror of the soul. Emotions help us get in touch with what is important in our lives. Our emotions make us feel alive and provide us with a richness of experience that is uniquely human.
4. Social
Social well-being involves being connected to others through various types of relationships. Individuals who function optimally in this domain are able to form friendships, have intimate relationships, give and receive love and affection, and accept others unconditionally. They are able to give of themselves and share in the Joys and sorrows of being part of a community. This community includes both formal and informal networks. Formal networks include organizations such as churches, professional organizations, fraternities, sororities, and campus groups requiring official membership, dues, and standards. Informal networks, such as an intramural sports team, do not have rigid rules for membership. In a sense, your social networks are a major part of your environment.
5. Environmental
Environmental well-being involves high-level functioning on two levels. The most immediate environment, the micro-environment, consists of your school, home, neighborhood, and work site. The people with whom you interact in those places link the environment to the social aspects of your health. This environment greatly affects your overall health and personal safety by influencing whether you are at risk for and fear issues such as theft, crime, and violence. The quality of air and water, noise pollution, crowding, and other issues that affect your stress level are also included.
Your social support system is also part of this environment. The macro-environment, the level of wellbeing at a larger level—state, country, and the world at large—also affects wellness. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and other issues such as violence, international disputes, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ageism—all influence us daily to some extent.
6. Occupational/Vocational
Occupational/vocational well-being involves issues related to job wiliness. It encompasses everything from the safety of your particular work site to the nature of your career. Work-site well-being includes both physical (e.g., air, water, physical plant, machinery) and social (e.g., relationships with coworkers, management, Definition of Health And Wellness facilities and activities) factors. Your personal wellness is affected by the health of your work site. Employers and work sites vary tremendously in relation to health. Some strive for optimal levels, encouraging employees to take advantage of a myriad of health-enhancing programs and services. Others merely meet the minimum acceptable standards for health and safety set by the government. Besides the specific health of the workplace, different jobs pose varying threats to individuals’ wellbeing as a result of the nature of the work. Some jobs, such as police and military service, are risky because of possible exposure to hostile combatants. Other occupations, such as those of firefighters, emergency medical service workers, coal miners, arid oil rig operators, are risky because they place employees in dangerous environments. Still other occupations are characterized by high stress due to deadlines, competition, or other factors.
