musings

• Elodie
• Feb. 22, 2023

Dr. Sudip Bhattacharya and colleagues state in their research paper “Salutogenesis: A bona fide guide towards health preservation” (2020), that the most neglected part in an individual's life is most likely their own health [1]. People may go to the doctor, but mostly only then, when there is already something wrong, and oftentimes after a longer time of denial or pain. We may care about our health when we are diseased, but we don’t think about the things that keep our bodies and minds happy and healthy. Why? Modern medicine most certainly plays a big role in this perspective. Unfortunately, contemporary Western medicine is very disease-oriented; one talks about pathology and pathogenesis of an illness. One treats the sick, and only rarely encounters symptom-free, healthy people in a hospital or GP practice (time to take an example from the obstetrics).

Yet, there is another concept which stands in opposition to pathogenesis, namely salutogenesis, which focuses on factors that bring you health or respectively keep you healthy. Pathogenesis, as we know it from medical science, is a concept that analyzes the disease cause, process and cure; negative connotation, risk factors. Salutogenesis focuses on the development and maintenance of health; positive connotation, health factors. In the former perspective, health and disease oppose each other, whereas in the latter health and disease are seen as a continuum. So why are we not using a salutogenic approach in modern medicine? Wouldn’t it be even much more cost-effective even?

Again, there is no direct answer to this. You may ask the pharma industry… they might have an answer for you. Teasings aside, salutogenesis is shown to be positively associated with a person’s sense of coherence and general resistance resources, such as self-esteem, social support, education (see again [1]). It is related to an individual’s general wellbeing. In Western medicine or in the Western society in general, this very important aspect, namely our perceived wellbeing, or sense of wellness, keeps being forgotten. Connecting to the previous blog post [what the health?], if you take wellbeing out of the equation, we are not considering a holistic perspective in health, which in turn leads to (health) imbalances.

Anxiety and insecurity knock at the door, pills are thrown in the bodily system without questioning, due to easy access, availability and believed positive health effects, possibly leading to additional unwanted side effects. This whole phenomenon ends up spiraling in a devil’s circle with people’s health being more and more compromised as they feel helpless and left alone.

It is time, to raise awareness and be mindful about the concepts of salutogenesis, wellness and wellbeing, as they contribute so much to our perceived health. A certain level of content is needed for the human being to thrive. To live life. To get back that simple quality of life that has been suppressed for so long by our over-productive and fast–paced society.

Take time for the things that bring you joy, happiness, health, peace of mind. Shut off your phone, grab a pen, get that hug, steal that kiss.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014834/

Source picture:
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawing-illustration-individuality-concept_2780436.htm