ABOUT WOMEN AND EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

People who are emotionally well feel good about themselves, their relationships, and their purpose in life. Emotional wellness is not the absence of sadness, anger, or confusion. All people will feel these emotions from time to time. However, people who are emotionally well may have fewer emotional lows and will be able to recuperate faster from such lows. Emotional wellness may also increase feelings such as happiness and joy during positive times.

Promoting emotional wellness may be especially important for women. Nearly twice as many women as men are affected by a depressive disorder each year in the United States,¹ and research has linked depression and negative affect to a wide range of serious health conditions.² Promoting emotional wellness is one way to enhance women's physical health, and enables women to help manage their own well-being. For example, positive emotions buffer resilient people against depression, help them to thrive,³ and "trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being."⁴

Women of all ages can build positive emotional health by developing positive skills, traits, and resources to counteract negative forces. Qualities such as resiliency, hardiness, and optimism can help individuals be healthier and thrive.⁵ As importantly, these skills can be learned.⁶ Emotional wellness can be improved through the development of skills such as flexibility, strength, and optimism, enhanced personal traits such as high self-esteem and a sense of purpose, and expanded personal resources such as spiritual practices and support from family and friends. Through an extensive research process, we have identified three important aspects of emotional wellness. To promote emotional wellness, community organizations can help individual women of all ages to do the following:

• Value herself: This includes valuing and appreciating herself; having healthy emotional, cognitive, and physical habits; and engaging in meaningful and rewarding activities.
• Find balance and purpose: This includes having a sense of balance, meaning, and purpose in life; having meaningful spiritual beliefs and practices; and being able to adapt to change and cope successfully with adversity.
• Connect with others: This includes having compassion for others; identifying with a community; and having meaningful, rewarding, and supportive relationships.

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¹ Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994; Piccinelli 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006
² de Groot, Anderson, Freedland, Clouse, & Lustman, 2001; Ferketich, Schwartzbaum, Frid, & Moeschberger, 2000; Fishbain, Cutler, Rosomoff, & Rosomoff, 1997; Breslau, Peterson, Schultz, Chilcoat, & Andreski, 1998; Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991.
³ Frederickson, 2003.
⁴ Frederickson & Joiner, 2002.
⁵ Luthar, Cichetti, & Becker, 2000; Kahn, 2000; Cieslak, Widerszal-Bazyl, & Luszczynska-Cieslak, 2000.
⁶ Shatte & Reivich, 2002; Hill, 1998.

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