A Whole-Person View

This site uses a biopsychosocial view. It says health and well-being are shaped by biology, psychology and social factors that affect each other. It is a framework rather than a single test or formula. Researchers have debated it for decades, and evidence for the way the parts interact has grown, although the theory is still being developed (Bolton, 2023).

• Body and biology, including sleep, movement, food, and the body's stress response and recovery.
• Thoughts, feelings and behavior.
• Relationships, family, community, culture and history.

Each layer influences the others, and none sits “on top.” That is why this site rarely points to one cause for how a person feels, and why the pages on Understanding Yourself look at several influences at once. For example, Calm-Down Skills and Understanding Your Emotions touch the body, the mind and the people around you together.

Many people find meaning in faith, values, nature, art, family or service. Some health professionals add this as a fourth part of the model. The word “spiritual” means different things to different people (Saad et al., 2017). In studies that follow people over time, religion or spirituality was linked with slightly better mental health on average, and the link was small (Garssen et al., 2021).

On this site, material about meaning is shared as a perspective. It is not presented as research results, and nothing here asks you to hold any belief.

A measured lens looks at what can be counted, such as sleep hours, test scores or heart rate. A lived lens looks at what an experience is like for you, in your own words. Both can matter.

You might ask yourself: What does a number miss about my life? What does my story miss that a number could show? There are no right answers.

• The biopsychosocial model has been called too vague, and a spiritual extension is still being defined (Bolton, 2023; Saad et al., 2017).
• Studies of religion and mental health vary in how they define their terms, and the link found in follow-up studies is small (Garssen et al., 2021).
• Everything in the meaning layer is a perspective, not a research finding.
• This page is education, not a diagnosis or a treatment.

If low mood, worry or stress is affecting sleep, work, school or relationships, talk with a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. See how to choose a therapist. To learn how this site chooses and labels its sources, see Evidence and editorial standards.

• Bolton, D. (2023). A revitalized biopsychosocial model: Core theory, research paradigms, and clinical implications. Psychological Medicine, 53(16), 7504-7511. Source The biopsychosocial model describes interacting biological, psychological and social factors; the theory is still being developed.
• Garssen, B., Visser, A., & Pool, G. (2021). Does spirituality or religion positively affect mental health? Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 31(1), 4-20. Source In longitudinal studies, religion or spirituality was linked with slightly better mental health on average; the link was small.
• Saad, M., De Medeiros, R., & Mosini, A. (2017). Are we ready for a true biopsychosocial-spiritual model? The many meanings of "spiritual". Medicines, 4(4), 79. Source Some propose adding a spiritual part to the model; the word "spiritual" has many meanings.

How we choose and label our sources: Evidence and editorial standards