Why Health Is More Than the Absence of Symptoms
You can function and still feel drained. You can manage your symptoms and still feel disconnected. Health is about more than simply not being sick.
For a long time, we have tended to think about health in fairly simple terms.
Something hurts, we treat the pain.
Something isn’t working, we try to correct it.
The symptom disappears, and we assume health has returned.
Of course, reducing pain and resolving symptoms matter.
But after more than twenty-five years of working with people and their bodies, I have come to think about health more broadly.
Because sometimes everything appears to be “fine”—and yet we don’t feel well.
We’re functioning.
But are we thriving?
Health is also about adaptability
Your body is constantly responding to life.
A poor night’s sleep. A demanding day. Physical exertion. An emotional experience. A change in environment. An illness. A difficult conversation. An unexpected opportunity.
A healthy system isn’t one that never gets tired, stressed, uncomfortable or sick.
It is one that has the ability to respond, adapt and recover.
Think about physical exercise.
When you challenge your body appropriately, your heart rate increases, your breathing changes and your muscles work harder. Those changes aren’t signs that something has gone wrong. They are appropriate responses to what you are asking your body to do.
Then the challenge ends, and your system needs to recover.
Life asks us to do something similar all the time.
The question isn’t whether our system ever gets challenged.
The question is:
Can it respond—and can it find its way back?
Functioning is not always the same as being well
Human beings can become remarkably good at functioning under difficult conditions.
We push through exhaustion.
We learn to live with tension.
We rely on caffeine to keep going.
We ignore signals because there isn’t time to stop.
We adapt.
And sometimes those adaptations allow us to keep doing what needs to be done.
But functioning doesn’t necessarily mean that we have enough resources.
You can be productive and exhausted.
You can appear calm while feeling overwhelmed.
You can have no significant pain and still feel disconnected from your body.
You can manage symptoms without necessarily understanding why your system is struggling.
The absence of a symptom tells us something. It doesn’t tell us everything.
The nervous system helps us navigate
Your nervous system is continually gathering information and adjusting your body to what it perceives is happening.
Sometimes it mobilizes resources so you can act.
Sometimes it encourages you to slow down.
Sometimes it protects.
Sometimes it supports recovery.
And when enough resources are available, it allows greater curiosity, connection, creativity and growth.
This is why I am interested not only in what symptoms someone has, but also in how their system is adapting to their life.
How well are they recovering?
How much capacity do they have for everyday challenges?
What happens when something unexpected occurs?
Do they have the resources to do what matters to them?
These questions give us a much richer picture of health.
Health gives us possibilities
For me, health isn’t about maintaining a perfectly balanced body or nervous system.
Life doesn’t work that way.
There will be stress.
There will be challenges.
There will be times when we need to slow down, recover or ask for help.
Health is having enough adaptability and resources to meet life as it changes.
To recover when we need to recover.
To feel and remain connected to ourselves and others.
To move toward the things that matter to us.
And when circumstances allow, to grow.
Perhaps a better question than simply:
“Am I sick?”
is:
“Does my system have the resources and adaptability to support the life I want to live?”
Because health is not simply the absence of something wrong.
It is the capacity to adapt, recover, connect and participate fully in our lives.
Curious about how your system is adapting?
If you would like to better understand the patterns influencing your nervous system and the resources available to you, we can explore the larger picture together.