Scale of Well-Being

There certainly seems to be an abundance of well-being scales. We have spiritual, psychological, financial, general, child, mental, quality of, caregiver, emotional and probably several more. Well-being is defined in Encarta as "a good, healthy, or comfortable state". Of course, many things can contribute to our well being. We also have what seems to be many different types of well-being indicators, such as; others well being, my well-being, New York well being, cultural well-being, American well being, our well-being, over all well being, global well-being, elderly well-being, patient well-being and professional well-being to mention a few.

Well-being is vital in our health and quality of life as well as length of life. According to a study done in the United Kingdom which followed 20,000 people with no history of stroke for around 8 years. Of those 20,000 individuals, about 600 suffered a stroke. Results from the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale showed evidence those patients were less likely to have positive mental health and well-being. The lower the scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale the higher the chances were of them suffering a stroke, or to suffer a fatal stroke. (Neurology, 2008)

There seems to be an increasing global interest in the concept of mental well-being and its contribution to all aspects of human life. There is an increasing demand for instruments to monitor mental well-being at the population level and the evaluation of mental health promotion initiatives is growing. "The World Health Organization has declared that positive mental health is the 'foundation for well-being and effective functioning for both the individual and the community' and defined if as a state 'which allows individuals to realize their abilities, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their community'". WEMWBS (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale) was developed by an expert panel. taking from current criteria. WEMWBS is a good measure of mental well-being with the focus being entirely on the positive aspects of mental health, and offers promise as a useful tool in monitoring the mental well-being at the population level. It should appeal to those whom evaluate mental health promotion initiatives, but it is also important that the scales sensitivity to change is established before it is recommended in this context. (Multiple (RT, 2007)

Our well-being is of importance to all, however you may choose to perceive that. If Joe Schmoe is crashing on the WEMWBS scale and then goes on a shooting spree killing 20 people, it affects us all to a certain degree. If Joe Schmoe2 goes and scores high on the WEMWBS scale and donates 1 Billion dollars to the food organization, health research, or other charitable organization it benefits us all whether directly, or indirectly. So I think it is important that we realize this, for we are all in this boat together, especially more so in this day and age. Our over all well being is more important than we may think or perceive. Today people can seem to be more cruel, self-serving egoists at best, which may not be so good for the over all well being of our global well-being, and more so, our spiritual well-being.

Today we live in a global society, and global well-being is more important now than maybe 20 years ago before we advanced to a global community. What we do in America can, and does have an impact on the well-being of Iraq, or North Korea for instance. We should take this into account when we act and react, how we do business, and other aspects of our everyday lives. If I cut down a tree in Ghana, that can affect the whole world, the same as a suicide bomber in a multicultural mall in Israel. Although those two examples may seem worlds apart in terms of consequences, the results are ultimately the same. Not that cutting down a tree is a bad thing, but cutting all of them down can result in catastrophic events of which we don't even have a clue as to what and or when. So everything we do should be given more consideration, as we do live in a global society, and global well-being is a consequence we should not ignore anymore. As we have learned, or should of learned in the past, is that when things go well, that usually translates into things going well for more and more people, and when things go bad, they go bad all over. Sort of like a snowball effect I imagine, so if we can take some of that to heart, and start to recognize that our actions affect not only us but everyone else to a certain degree, then maybe we are off to a good start in becoming a real global community, and not just so we can make a quick buck, but a true global community where we can communicate effectively and get along together. It's not just your well-being anymore, but the global well-being which we should consider. If the global well-being isn't so well, chances are ours won't be as good as it could be as well.

Well-being research continues to grow, as it turns out it does affect us in both positive and negative ways, and others well-being can directly affect us as well. So maybe the next time we want to rip some ones head off for a making a mistake, or being rude to someone for no reason at all, we should take that into consideration, for it can and does affect us as well, whether it be sooner or later, good or bad.