Wellness: The New Mental and Physical Well-being

Wellness represents an expanded understanding of well-being, moving beyond mere physical health to encompass mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. This holistic concept is increasingly adopted across psychology, health services, and lifestyle industries to foster complete human potential.

The Evolution of Wellness: Beyond Physical Health

The modern concept of wellness traces back to American statistician Halbert L. Dunn, considered the father of the Wellness Movement. In the 1950s, Dunn proposed that human well-being extends beyond physical health, including the capacity for various avenues of self-actualization.

Dunn defined wellness as a dynamic lifestyle where human potential is maximized across physical, mental, and spiritual spheres. Given its inclusion of mental and spiritual realms alongside the physical, this concept gained significant traction within alternative medicine and non-experimental psychology circles. Since the 1950s, particularly with the rise of the New Age culture in the 1970s, the idea of wellness has expanded to spa centers, resorts, wellness hotels, and travel programs offering dedicated wellness experiences.

Why Wellness Gained Prominence: A Societal Shift

The emergence of this holistic view of well-being in the mid-20th century was not coincidental. Significant shifts in social conditions facilitated the widespread adoption of the wellness philosophy and integrated health approaches. For centuries, Western societies acknowledged a separation between body and soul, yet nearly all efforts to improve quality of life, especially for affluent classes, focused primarily on the physical. The “spiritual” realm, often seen as connected to the divine and thus more profound than the physical body, paradoxically received less practical attention in creating ideal living conditions.

The Historical Neglect of Inner Well-being

The “nourishment of the soul” was historically reserved for very limited elites and their immediate circles. For much of history, attempting to address complex, difficult-to-define needs related to the spiritual realm was challenging due to scarce resources and limited technologies. For instance, ancient Romans, relying on the denial of humanity to enslaved people for their own acceptable living standards, could hardly conceive of universal wellness.

Today, however, discussing wellness is possible. This is largely because we possess the resources and technology to finally address the fundamental question: What about the well-being of our minds?

Wellness in the Era of Affluence

It is no surprise that the modern notion of wellness largely coincided with the rise of the welfare state shortly after World War II. As basic needs were increasingly met across broader social strata through wealth redistribution, societies could extend their focus to a wider range of positive human values. This period saw increased discourse on freedom and the autonomy to choose lifestyles aligned with individual inclinations.

Simultaneously, the idea emerged that well-being should encompass previously unaddressed concerns. Many psychology professionals began shifting their focus from merely treating mental problems to guiding patients toward happiness and self-realization. Spiritual needs, reframed as mental needs, became central objectives. Consequently, concepts related to health and fitness have become infused with the notion of wellness, from weight loss and healthy diet plans to broader treatment strategies for patients.

Scientific Perspectives on Wellness

As often happens with concepts appealing to a spiritual world distinct from physical logic, wellness in its original definition is not a primary focus in scientific psychology or conventional medicine. Research and interventions from these fields typically concentrate on the study of subjective experience and the placebo effect, rather than considering aspects of well-being disconnected from normal biological and physiological processes.

While wellness can undoubtedly enhance the effectiveness of weight loss programs when internalized by patients, and integrating wellness centers can boost economic results for hotels, this doesn’t offer extensive insight into a realm of human needs separate from physical health. Thus, while the idea of wellness may be highly valuable to many spas, hotels, travel agencies, and alternative medicine organizations, it is not a universal scientific truth. Embracing wellness can indeed open doors to new avenues for cultivating happiness and enjoying life, but not doing so does not inherently distance individuals from authentic well-being.