Staying Healthy By Following The Hierarchy Of Needs

Staying healthy is a prerequisite of maintaining an

added stress-free life brought about by complications.

In the event of an illness or sickness by germs and

unhealthy living, we are then faced and served with a

level of incapability in certain levels such as not

being able to perform at our best. It is then

important to know the nature of our physiological and

psychological needs to maintain our state of staying

healthy. The hierarchy of needs which was first

defined by Abraham Maslow in 1943 as an article in his

publication Theory of Human Motivation very well

explain the steps in which we should go through to

achieve a state of well being.



Physiological



The first step in staying healthy is to be able to

obtain the basic things which our body needs to

function in the proper manner in which our body was

designed to be.



Some of the things which a person needs to start

attaining and staying healthy is by being able to

provide the self with proper breathing, food, water,

sleep, excretion, and the like.



Among all things, this is perhaps the most general and

common standard for human existence in which an

absence of these would result to outright illness and

complications on the other areas of needs of the human

being.



Safety



The next level of need which the body needs is the

safety of these physiological parts from external and

internal stimuli which may cause them to malfunction

or dysfunction. These internal factors include the

germs and bacteria which invade our bodies and wreak

havoc in our physiological processes. External forces

may be any of the environmental objects which may pose

a threat to our whole being.



Safety of the body is needed after being able to

provide the same with the necessary starter

supplements. Keeping the body safe from harm and by

keeping a proper form of hygiene would definitely help

in maintaining safety of the body.



Love



Love is the affection and concern received by the self

from the different social constructs surrounding him.

Staying healthy would also need a form of affirmation

and care from the others as we are social creatures. A

lack of proper affection may lead to complications in

the next two higher levels of needs, going towards the

psychological area of existence.



Love may not always be the romantic love that one

seeks, but rather the love of just being accepted as

an individual with a distinct personality.



Esteem



Esteem has to be the desired effect of the individual

after the immediate acquisition of the previous aspect

of love. A person with esteem may be able to do more

things beyond his known personal limit. It manifests a

person’s will to fight and the urge to carry on with

things to overcome challenges. Sometimes, esteem is

based and dependent on the people believing in him.



Self Actualization



After all the previous physiological needs have been

met, the final and most important need of self

actualization is required. The psychological need of

self-actualization is needed to finalize and solidify

the four other levels of needs of every individual. In

this aspect, the brain is the focal and controlling

factor in holding all the other four together to

achieve homeostasis. No matter how capable the body is

to do healthy tasks, if the mind is unhealthy, then

everything else will deteriorate afterwards.



Staying healthy by following the Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs is an essential step by step needs assessment to

stay focused on what area’s of existence are most

important to be attained fully first before proceeding

to the next in attaining a perfect state of well