The Health Triangle
The three dimensions of health are physical, mental/emotional, and social. Physical health consists of physical fitness and absence of disease. Some examples of behaviors that benefit physical health are exercising daily and having a balanced diet. Eating junk food regularly or not getting enough sleep are behaviors that will harm physical health. Mental/emotional health involves the handling difficult situations well and having a positive self image. Being excessively self-critical will harm mental/emotional health, while setting and achieving goals will promote good mental/emotional health. Social health includes having healthy interactions with other people. Overworking can harm relationships, which will in turn harm social health. Spending time with people face to face rather than just over social media nurtures the relationship with them, and will improve social health. The three sides of the health triangle are all connected. For example, exercising on a daily basis improves physical health. Exercise helps to relieve stress, which will improve mental/emotional health. It is easy to meet people at the gym, so exercising improves social health as well. However, it works the other way around. Having low self-esteem is poor mental/emotional health. This low self-esteem can cause a person to feel like nobody wants to be their friend, and decide not to bother trying to build friendships. Because of this, they might stay home all of the time without getting any physical activity.