What comes to mind when you hear the word health? Most likely you think of working out, eating right, or having less stress. But not all people have the same perspective when it comes to health. When asked “whats the first thing that comes to your mind when the word “health” is said” you will find a plethora of answers. For example, my friend Anthony responded with the single word, “exercise”. Another friend, Matt, answered with the singular term”Lungs”. These answers show what some people feel concern with when it comes to health.

But there is more to health than just what people see on the outside in physical form. When asked, “what is more important in the long term, mental or physical health?”, I received many of the same answers. Out of the five people I interviewed, four of them said the singular word “mental”. The fifth person who dissented from everyone else said “Physical health is more likely to do you harm”. This brings up the important debate of mental vs physical health. Perfectly healthy people (physically) might suffer from mental illness causing depression or even suicide. Stress and social standards can cause these mental issues.

Having much more stress in our current society brings many ways people cope with it. When asked how he copes with stress, John said “Listening to and playing music on my guitar”. Anthony had quite a different response by answering “I just keep doing more schoolwork”. Having different ways to cope with things like stress is what makes us a unique society. What might be relaxing to someone else, like doing schoolwork, may induce more stress on yourself. But what does healthy mean? After reflecting upon friends answers to various questions, I would have to say that healthy is a perspective. Yes, everyone should strive to be physically healthy, but someone could be an olympic athlete and be very unhealthy at the same time.