Let’s say that you’ve just succumbed to a pretty annoying migraine. You’re not sure of what to do because you’ve never been in a scenario such as this before, so you talk about it with a friend, and they suggest seeing a holistic doctor to know if they could treat your migraine. You are confused about what a holistic doctor is and what the components of holistic health are.
The five components of holistic health are physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and mental. Among all of these components, holistic health entails focusing on all of you, from mind and body, to determine the best approach to treating any migraine or other health problems you may have.
Read more about holistic health and the approach to patient care and learn more about the five components of holistic health.
Article Topics
What is holistic health?
A holistic approach considers different aspects of one’s wellness. By focusing on these five components, you are not focusing on just one part of yourself but all of you. All of you being focused reinforces that you should be connecting with your mind, body, and spirit. Connecting with all three aspects of your being will help you become a more balanced person in life and become more present with yourself and others.
Hippocrates first introduced holistic health but then was revived in western culture in the 1960s due to people thinking that medical technology and medicine, prescription drugs, were used too much. This is where holistic doctors exist and have been implemented in various aspects of holistic nutrition, massage therapy, etc.
A holistic doctor implements that concept of holistic health and medicine, which means practicing prevention first before treatment. Holistic doctors have a different approach when it comes to patient care. A holistic health and medicine principle is that a patient is a person and not a disease. How the patient feels mentally, physically, and spiritually is just as important and should be focused on.
Read more about the holistic approach to patient care from a doctor or nurse specializing in holistic health.
What is a holistic approach to patient care?
A doctor or nurse’s holistic approach to patient care is healing the patient as a whole instead of individual parts of them. The goal of a doctor or nurse is to focus on each of their patients individually. They consider various factors revolving around that patient, including their culture, the environment they are being cared for, and socioeconomic background.
The job of a holistic nurse is to focus on the patient and acknowledge them, be respectful and mindful while interacting with the patients and assess them while communicating with them, and, while speaking, determine stress factors that could be a factor in the patient’s health not going so well.
The holistic approach to treating a patient differs from traditional approaches. The holistic approach focuses on “healing,” while conventional approaches focus on healing from the standpoint of topics of bacteria, viruses, and how to be rid of those from a more scientific perspective.
From the holistic approach, forms of treatment recommended by nurses and doctors include:
- Exercise
- Acupuncture
- Massage Therapy
- Spiritual Counseling
- Naturopathy
- Surgical procedures, if needed
To holistic doctors and nurses, another core principle is that when it comes to the treatment, you are fixing what caused the condition in the first place and just not alleviating its symptoms by just giving them medication. However, if it has to resort to giving the patient medications, they will if they feel it is necessary.
Five principal components matter in one’s mind, body, and spirit when approaching holistic health.
Read more to learn about the five components of holistic health.
The 5 Components of Holistic Health
Doctors, nurses, and anyone else who practice the holistic approach implement five components of holistic health that revolve around the mind, body, and spirit to ensure that they remain as healthy as possible and know that they are being focused on.
Read more to learn about the five components of holistic health.
Physical
Physically when you are healthy, so are your mind and spirit. When someone mentions physicality, they think of their overall health, understandably. Over time, the physical pain that you feel, if not treated and focused on, will cause you to become stressed and overwhelmed. This stressor can further develop into more physical pain and take a toll on your overall health and wellness.
To physically heal, holistic specialists typically recommend exercising, eating healthily, doing yoga, sleeping for eight hours, etc.
Emotional
Emotional health, mental health, and physical health are more connected than people think. How you feel emotionally can affect how you feel mentally, then physically. If you are not prioritizing your emotional and mental health, then very quickly, your physical health will be thrown out the wayside and abandoned.
Seeing a therapist, your doctor, journaling, etc., are different ways to balance your emotional health.
Social
Social health entails connecting with your friends, family, and anyone else you see fit as long as it is a deep and genuine connection. Connections with others around you assure you that there are people in your life who care about you and want the best for you.
A recommendation when connecting with others is to cut those who are not good influences for you out of your life. Cutting toxicity out of your life ensures the betterment of your mental health. Ways to achieve finding good people around you are making time for family, friends, joining clubs, volunteering, etc.
Spiritual
Your spiritual health connects you to your inner soul and the world around you from a greater perspective. When they think of the word ‘spiritual,’ they automatically think of religion, which is not the case, but you can if you want to connect your faith to your spiritual health.
Ways to focus on your spirituality can include taking walks outside and immersing yourself in nature or, if you are religious, you can read your bible, go to church, etc. Whatever you feel will connect you to your spirituality, then do it as long you feel content and at peace.
Mental
Our mental connections to our brains and their functions depend on how we feel. How you are feeling and how well your brain functions help determine how you are doing physically, your moods, and feeling emotionally. Holistic approaches to mental health can include going to therapy, group therapy, art therapy, or practicing mindfulness, which can entail yoga, expressing gratitude, or journaling. Many people don’t understand how our language shapes the way we think and how it impacts our mental health.
Other recommendations for a holistic approach to mental health can be changing your diet, exercising, or other unhealthy habits for the mind and body because both the physical and holistic psychology components are connected.
Final Thoughts on Holistic Health
You have now learned about the meaning of holistic health and a doctors’ and nurses’ approach to holistic health. You have also known about, more in-depth, the five components of holistic health. By learning about holistic health and what it further entails, you will be able to determine, along with further research, if this is the right approach for you.
