What is a health triangle?

A health triangle is a process or a model consisting of a person’s physical, social, and mental health/emotional health. All these are interconnected with each other; if one of the components gets disturbed, the other components automatically get affected. This further affects the general health of a person.

The main components are as follows.

Physical health

Mental health

Social health

 What is Physical health? Health triangle

Physical health is the overall condition of a person’s body, as the body consists of bones, muscles, and organs. If we say a person is physically fit, it means that all the body’s parts are functioning properly or working normally or fit to work. Moreover, physical health is related or interlinked to diseases, which means the body or the organs are affected by diseases. And the disease has affected the organ’s function.

What are the examples of diseases that affect a person’s physical health?

The following are some diseases that affect a person’s physical health

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Osteoporosis
• Headaches or migraines

All the above-mentioned diseases disturb a person physically, but also have effects on mental and social life. For example, a person with cancer suffers from body pains, disturbed sleep patterns, financial crisis, fear of loss, avoids social gatherings due to altered body image, such as baldness, lean body due to severe weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and low energy levels. Furthermore, he will not be able to do a physical exercise due to weakness and body pains.

A person with weak bones cannot perform activities of daily living, especially if suffering from knee joint arthritis. Secondly, unable to do physical exercise or walk due to pain and fear of falls.

Moreover, a person with oesteo arthritis cannot go for hikes with other friends and family members, due to limited mobility or pain. This also affects a person’s mental health by affecting confidence level and increasing anxiety. Furthermore, body pains and limited mobility affects persons performance.

What affects your physical health?  Health triangle

Physical health of a person is affected by the following reasons

• Diet: Diet plays a very crucial role in maintaining physical health. People who do not take a balanced diet suffer from many deficiencies; this further affects other body systems. Such as body and joint pains, neurological issues, such as poor memory.
• Exercise: physical stretches make the body strong, reduce stress and depression, and improve circulation and oxygenation.
• Diseases:
• The environment has direct effects on a person’s health. People living in the mountains are more active compared to people living in cities.
• Lifestyle choices: lifestyle choices also affect the physical triangle, as it affects physical health, mental health, and social health. People living a sedentary lifestyle are at risk of gaining weight, high blood pressure, and diabetes. These diseases are risk factors for mental and social health, such as anxiety, stress, depression, and social isolation due to low confidence.
• Access to healthcare
• Education
• Poverty /resources

How to improve physical health?  Health triangle

A person’s physical health can be improved by taking care of the following tips.

• Take plenty of fluid to keep the body hydrated.
• Take a balanced diet to fulfill the body’s physical requirements to carry out functions.
• Take quality sleep to keep body and mind balanced and fresh
• Avoid substance abuse
• Good stress management tips
• Always keep guidance from your healthcare provider
• Do physical exercise, which may include stretches, push-ups, or simple walks
• Practice self-care; this may be done by keeping your body neat and clean.
• Give proper rest to your body  by pausing between duty hours

What are the components of physical health?

The following are the components of physical health

• Brain health
• Cardiovascular health /heart health
• Gut health
• Muscles and joint / bones
• Vision/hearing
• Coordination and balance

How are all these components interlinked with each other?

The three components, physical health, social health, and mental health, are strongly interconnected with each other, for example.

A disturbed sleep:  Health triangle

If a person has disturbed night sleep, it will affect their mood, e.g., feel irritable in the daytime. Furthermore, he will not be able to maintain a normal social life or attend social events due to irritability and fatigue. So, it disturbed the overall health of a person.

Exercise daily: Health triangle

Doing daily physical exercise keeps a person physically fit. Exercise keeps the body strong by improving circulation to the whole body’s organs. It keeps lungs healthy by inhaling proper oxygen and exhalation of toxic gases such as carbon dioxide. This further reduces stress through deep breathing exercises.

It is interlinked to emotional and mental health. For example, a physical exercise boosts mood, elevates confidence, and reduces stress. Similarly, all these effects of exercise keep a person socially active.

Furthermore, a person with a good confidence level participates in social activities such as competitions, in social work, and in events and programs very enthusiastically. So, there is a direct linkage of physical exercise and mental and social health.

Fight with a family member: health triangle.

A person with mental stress can affect a person’s physical and social well-being. If a person is mentally disturbed, their physical health will automatically be disturbed by showing symptoms of fatigue, lethargy, pain, and irritability.

 Most of the people with stress experience body pains such as muscle pains and joint pains.  A low-mood and depressed person does not want to be physically active, he always tries to take rest and wants to be isolated from society. So, mental stress should be addressed on a priority basis. Furthermore, stress and depression take everything from a person slowly.

Mental health:

What are the components of mental health?

The following are the major components of mental health

• Emotions
• Thoughts
• Behavior
• Acceptance
• Independent choices and decisions
• Values and beliefs

How does mental health get affected?

Mental health gets affected by the following

• Stress and depression
• Mental disorders
• Hormonal issues
• Trauma /bad days in life
• Social factors
• Physical health
• Toxic relationships

How to cope with mental health issues?

Mental health issues can be managed by following these tips:

• Good friends and family support
• Seek medical help
• Practice positivity
• Avoid toxicity
• Manage stress and anxiety effectively

In conclusion, the health triangle consists of physical, mental, and social health. Any changes in one of the components could lead to a distraction in the other component. So, it is necessary to keep all of them in a balanced way.