What is the Difference Between Health and Wellness?
When it comes to mental health, the terms “health” and “wellness” are frequently used, often leading to confusion. While they are related concepts, health and wellness refer to different aspects of mental and emotional well-being. For anyone aiming to improve their mental state, especially through psychiatric care, it is crucial to understand how health and wellness differ and how they intersect.
Defining Health
Health is often considered the baseline state of well-being. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. When applied to mental health, this means that being mentally healthy is more than just not having a mental illness—it involves thriving in your daily life, feeling emotionally balanced, and having the cognitive resilience to handle challenges.
At Prime Behavioral Health, mental health is a priority, and we view it as a vital part of overall health. In our practice, health is treated through professional psychiatric evaluations, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatments such as medication management and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy. These treatments help manage symptoms and address conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. When mental health is in decline, it can manifest in a range of symptoms such as insomnia, difficulty focusing, mood swings, or even physical symptoms like headaches or digestive issues. A focus on mental health often involves diagnosing and addressing these symptoms with targeted interventions.
Health can be measured through diagnostics such as mental health screenings, blood tests, and patient-reported symptoms. At Prime Behavioral Health, the goal is to improve these measurable outcomes by helping patients restore normal mental functioning and emotional stability.
What is Wellness?
In contrast to health, wellness is a dynamic, ongoing process focused on the pursuit of personal growth, mental clarity, and balance. Wellness encompasses more than just the absence of illness—it involves actively making choices and adopting behaviors that promote a fulfilling and meaningful life. Wellness is more holistic, encompassing emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of life alongside physical and mental health.
Wellness involves a proactive approach. At Prime Behavioral Health, we understand that wellness requires more than managing mental health symptoms. It means helping individuals cultivate coping mechanisms, improve resilience, and create sustainable habits that contribute to long-term well-being. Wellness is highly individualized, meaning that what works for one person may not work for another. Therefore, our psychiatric care programs are customized to fit each patient’s unique journey toward well-being.
For instance, our focus on wellness involves educating patients on mindfulness, stress management techniques, and building healthy relationships. In psychiatric care, addressing wellness can mean helping patients not only overcome the symptoms of conditions like anxiety or depression but also developing a positive outlook on life, achieving personal goals, and strengthening emotional resilience. Wellness is ongoing, requiring continual self-reflection and adjustments to daily routines to maintain a sense of balance.
Key Differences Between Health and Wellness
- Health is the Foundation; Wellness is the Enhancement: Health focuses on diagnosing and treating symptoms, while wellness is about living a balanced, fulfilled life. For example, mental health treatment may involve medication to reduce anxiety symptoms, while wellness would involve learning techniques like deep breathing or yoga to manage stress before it escalates.
- Health is Reactive; Wellness is Proactive: Health is often approached reactively, meaning individuals seek help once symptoms arise. Wellness, however, is about prevention and maintaining well-being even when you’re not experiencing symptoms. At Prime Behavioral Health, we support both approaches by offering treatments that help alleviate immediate mental health symptoms and programs designed to sustain long-term wellness.
- Health is Measurable; Wellness is Subjective: Health can be assessed using objective metrics—such as whether or not someone meets the clinical criteria for depression or anxiety. Wellness, on the other hand, is more subjective, involving how an individual feels about their quality of life, emotional fulfillment, and overall satisfaction. Our treatment plans at Prime Behavioral Health are designed to help improve both health outcomes (such as reduced symptoms of mental illness) and wellness (such as enhanced emotional and social well-being).
- Health is Treatment-Oriented; Wellness is Growth-Oriented: Health focuses on treatment—correcting what’s wrong, like stabilizing mood disorders with medications or TMS therapy. Wellness is about personal growth—learning how to thrive mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. While our psychiatric care focuses on both treatment and wellness, our providers understand that helping patients grow emotionally and mentally is as important as treating symptoms.
How Health and Wellness Work Together
Although health and wellness are distinct, they complement each other in important ways. You need to have a foundation of good health to truly achieve wellness, and maintaining wellness can support your health over time. For example, regular therapy sessions and medication management can help patients with depression feel stable and symptom-free (health), while engaging in daily mindfulness or exercise can improve emotional resilience (wellness).
At Prime Behavioral Health, we integrate these concepts to offer a comprehensive approach to mental care. Our use of treatments like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) addresses mental health by alleviating symptoms of depression, while our emphasis on behavioral therapy and lifestyle modifications focuses on wellness. We help patients achieve not only mental stability but also a sense of overall fulfillment and well-being.
At Prime Behavioral Health, we understand that achieving both health and wellness is key to a fulfilling life. Whether you’re looking to address specific mental health conditions or seeking a holistic approach to well-being, we are here to help. If you’re ready to take the next step toward a healthier, more balanced life, contact us today or call at 817-778-8884 to schedule a consultation.