Health Philosophy

How do i know what i know?

I have to admit that it is rather hard for me to condense my whole philosophy of health into one post because there are truly so many ideas, values, beliefs, and experiences that have gone into it throughout the years! For the purposes of this page then, I will be limiting the main factors which have influenced my health philosophy to: 1) my faith/religion, and 2) my personal experience/struggles with mental health. I’ll not waste words, so let’s just get into it!

I was born and raised in a Christian family/home. My parents are Christians, my grandparents are Christians, and even my great-grandma was a Christian. I attended the same church for as long as I could remember (until recently), but that all goes to say that Christianity was a very “normal”, thing for me growing up. But although I was practically “born” a Christian, my faith in God was and is a personal belief and relationship that I had to decide for myself. This is because (as Christians believe) trusting in God is something between the person’s heart and God only.

Anyway, although I always called myself a Christian, I don’t believe that I actually truly was or even knew what that meant until I started my struggle with mental illness. Around maybe age 12 or 13, I started having trouble with self-esteem, which roughly transitioned into a sort of “depression” among other things throughout high school. I compared myself to others so much, and I was so sad and hurt all the time… I am literally so fortunate that I can look back and talk about it without fear now, but if you had asked me what I thought “health” meant around this difficult time, I probably would’ve said “happiness”: anything that was NOT the despair and chaos that I was feeling at the time.

Now I’m going to have to blow through how I was able to overcome this “depression”, but to make a long story short: it was the final realization of who God is and what amazing love He has for all of us (if you’re not familiar with Christianity I put a little blurb at the very bottom if you’re interested) that I was able to make it through. It didn’t happen all at once, but something about my life changed. Radically, 180 degrees, after I truly began to trust God and follow Him by myself. It wasn’t something magical or weird (although I must admit, it probably can sound that way, I know XD…), it was just a change of heart. But from that change of heart, it’s like my whole mind was being renewed, and since then it’s as if my mental state (and overall well-being) have been made new.

Overall, I would have to say that my health philosophy is largely influenced by my faith in God as I struggled through all those years. Although my struggles and journey are still far from over (there are still hard times, low points, etc.), I would say without hesitation (although it may be hard to get my conviction through in writing) my life was literally saved by Christ.

On a more secular note, other things that have influenced my philosophy of health (not including college, which is where I have had the most formal health education) have been my struggles with acne leading to an interest in nutrition, Chinese culture (I am Chinese-American), and also the countless hours of research (reading) I did over those difficult years to try to figure out how I could “cure” my sad state on my own.

What is my definition of health?

Stemming from all those experiences and my faith in God, I would have to say that my definition of “health” (now) largely centers around mental and “spiritual” well-being. While I certainly do believe that physical status (i.e. being free of disease or injury) is a key part of “health”, I think I believe that people can still be relatively “healthy” even if their physical state is “not so good”. For instance, some people say that acne is largely caused by certain imbalances in the body, i.e. by diet, hormones, etc. Comparing a person who is acne-free but in a chaotic mental state vs. a person dealing with acne yet who is at peace in their own skin, then: I would be more inclined to say that the person “at peace” is “healthier”. Also, however, I believe that “health” means different things for different people (to some extent). So what is “healthy” for some people may not be so for others.

To sum up my definition then, I guess I would say: “Health is the maintenance of an individual’s personal “equilibrium” with respect to physical, mental, and spiritual status. It is different for every person, but it is a state of holistic well-being. The standard for “holistic well-being” may be hard to measure completely, but it is ultimately defined by God’s “goodness”. This “goodness” can be and has been empirically observed in the world through science and through the Bible.”

Now before you go “what is she talking about, this is so weird, I’m out”, let me break it down really quickly. What I mean by that is basically: 1) health is holistic well-being, 2) it is defined by God, and 3) we can know what “healthy” is just by looking at the Bible or by observing the world (why didn’t I just say that…) Here’s (just a small part of) what the Bible says about health:

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24 New International Version)
“. . . be attentive to [God’s] words. . . For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20,22 English Standard Version)
“Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred” (Proverbs 15:17 New International Version)
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22 New International Version)

I picked these verses because they align with my personal health journey. Looking back now, I realize that these words predicted everything I needed to heal. It’s interesting because there are lots of scholarly articles out there (which I didn’t have the time to grab, but they’re there) that mirror what the Bible says about health--which is what I mean about being able to empirically discover what God says health is. Scholars have written about the health benefits of words, Christianity itself, diet and minimalism, and “positivity”. They’ve just taken decades of research and education to redefine the things God already did!

Obviously, my health definition is very different compared to the WHO definition, but there are some similarities and don't think the WHO definition is necessarily "incorrect".

Overall, as a Christian, I believe that “health" can be distinguished by simply “paying attention” to what God says. I believe that people all experience health at varying degrees, in various forms (i.e. physical disease, mental illness, relational discord, etc.), and that there are some objectively "unhealthy" and "healthy" things in life, but that in the end, nobody can reach "a fully 100% healthy state".

To me, there exists a difference between “sufficient health” and “full health”. People can be sufficiently healthy (which looks different for each individual), but one interesting thing about my health philosophy is that I believe pain and suffering are rather inevitable. I believe that nobody ever stops this continuous process of healing and struggling with "health" (i.e. nobody can ever experience "full health", we can just come close to it at times), non-Christians and Christians, religious, and non-religious alike.

This relates to the third question because it influences the way I think health care should be approached. From the provider perspective, I don't believe that providers should go into care thinking that it's all about the end-result (i.e. to just cure him/her, or help her/him walk again, etc.). I think providers need to consider themselves as instruments in the healing process -- not the end of it, and I think they should view their roles and responsibilities as that of a helper in maintaining peoples' individual health equilibriums. From the patient perspective, I think patients should understand that health isn't necessarily something that can be fully achieved, but that it can be maintained, and that health is a lifelong journey that requires patience, cooperation, humility, and endurance always.

But I think my health philosophy should not give room to use the inevitableness of health struggles as an excuse for not investing in the "proper and just" development, improvement, and distribution of care. I put "proper and just" in quotation marks, because while I think that the meaning of those words is different according to different people's health philosophies, we all have a responsibility to be good stewards of the health of ourselves as individuals, as well as the health of other individuals as communities and populations across the globe. The Bible calls people to be kind to one another, to love each other, and to care for our fellow "neighbors" regardless of their "status" (whatever that may be). Therefore, I believe it is important for the health care industry to retain humility within care (i.e. we cannot fix everything), but to also continue striving for what is good and loving for people beyond ourselves.

Finally: my health philosophy along with all of its own influences have been the instrumental thing in deciding what I want to do as a career. From my own experiences, I know what it’s like to be in a place of near hopelessness, but I also know what it’s like to have complete and lasting hope. I went from a place of self-hatred and condemnation to a place of love, joy, and peace. Because of all this, I want to work with individuals who still struggle with mental illness, because I want to be able to share my hope from the other side.

I realize that there are a lot of people who will not share my philosophy of health, and I realize that not everyone will want to or choose to be healed the way I was. I realize that to some people, this might all sound silly, crazy, or completely bogus. And to be honest, I get that. And I get that it is going to be a challenge.

So far, I continue to consider Psychiatry as a specialty because I believe that science and God don’t contract each other, and I think that scientific knowledge along with Biblical insights can bring a unique perspective to the field of mental health. I want to share the hope and healing I have with others (and I also sometimes want to prove to people that God and science can exist together ;). These are challenges I am ready to accept!

That’s about as much as I should share… And I’ve just barely scratched through the surface! If you made it to the end here, thank you! I appreciate your reading through this, and I hope you found my story interesting and/or thought-provoking in the least. Questions, comments, and disagreements are all welcome :).

***In case you’re not familiar with Christianity: Christians’ main belief (the “gospel”) is that humans were created by God, but that we are sinful (“bad”) in nature. Because of this, we would have to be separated from God, but because God loves us/humans so much, He lovingly sent His son Jesus to die on behalf of all of our sins so that we wouldn’t have to die, and so that we wouldn’t have to be separated from God!***