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I'm not proud of it, but I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology from a major University.
We basically studied abnormal behavior and then, with measures and statistics, tried
to explain reasons for that behavior and create theories to help people through counseling.
As a discipline, it was light on science and heavy on theory. Personally I have some problems
with this approach and we all know from experience that you can prove almost anything with statistics.
Of course, many statistics have real value. However, there are some statistics that come
out of some very expensive studies that have what I call a major duh factor. As an example,
one extensive study found that adults with diabetes reported experiencing two times as
many unhealthy feeling days per month compared to adults without diabetes. Duh! There is
a major governmental agency that has an ongoing scientific study called What is Quality of
Life? This Quality of Life or QOL study utilized long questionnaires and detailed interviews
to measure both the positive and negative aspects of life. The challenge, of course,
is that quality is very subjective; it means different things to different people and spans
everything from employment to housing to spirituality. One of the major components of QOL is labeled
the Health Related Quality of Life or HRQOL. To determine your status, there are several
standardized measures like the SF12 and SF36 Medical Outcomes Study Forms, the Sickness
Impact Profile, and the Quality of Wellbeing Scale. The Healthy Days Measured Questionnaire
asks questions like "Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression,
and problems with emotions, how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health
not good? and During the past 30 days, approximately how many days did poor physical or mental
health keep you from doing your usual activities, such as selfcare, work, or recreation?" Dozens
of these questions later and we are well on our way to a wealth of statistics. I like
the World Health Organizations definition of health. Health is a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The disease
part is fairly measurable, but the well-being portion is very subjective and is more difficult
to make into a statistic. Let me share with you some of the CDCs findings based on statistics
from the HRQOL studies: #1 Americans say they feel unhealthy (physically or mentally) about
6 days per month. #2 Younger American adults, aged 1824 years, suffered the most mental
distress. #3 Older adults suffered the most poor physical health and activity limitation.
Duh! #4 Adults with the lowest income or education reported more unhealthy days than those with
higher income or education. #5 Americans with chronic diseases or disabilities reported
more unhealthy days than those without these diseases or disabilities. Duh, again! I'm
sorry, but do we always need these expensive governmental and university studies to measure
what is the obvious? Here's what I do know. When you eat right, strive for worthy goals,
do your best, love deeply, express gratitude, exercise regularly, and look on the bright
side, you have the best chance to feel and look good. Now, that's Quality of Life! I
really like how country music star, Reba McEntire summed it up when she said, "To succeed in
life, you need 3 things: A wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone." Now, that deserves at least
an honorary PhD in Psychology if you ask me.