What is the REAL cause of illness and disease?

So I was in a discussion today with some regional health funding organisations. We discussed what I believe to be the real cause of illness and disease and a program I've been working on that could potentially change the way health systems work in primary care.

No, it's not that people don't know what they should be doing because there is certainly no shortage of information out there. And with the Internet and Google you can pretty much find anything! So you can't plead ignorance. So it's not lack of information.

It's not even that people don't do enough exercise. Sure exercise is really important and essential to overall wellness but I don't think just lack of exercise is the real cause of illness and disease.

And it's not even the food. I know a HUGE part of it IS the food and if we could get everyone eating properly (as in eating REAL food) that would make a massive difference on peoples overall wellness and reduce the burden of disease. However, if best nutrition was available to all (which is NOT food pyramid by the way - even though that is what the dieticians other health care professionals in the health system are telling us we should follow), there would still be many that could/would not follow it.




Which leads me to what I believe to be the real cause of disease - a LACK OF SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS (and I can't really find a good picture for it...). If we really think about it, we could do anything we put out minds to yet we limit ourselves by not knowing HOW to apply new things and changes into our lives that will make us better, happier, more successful and so on.

What is self management you ask? Well it includes the knowledge, skills and ability to drive your own personal health and wellness - so you can be in control more of your health and not at the mercy of our health professionals (most of whom of course are well-intentioned but may not be following the latest information and therefore not giving you the correct, most current up to date information or in fact may not be giving you all the options that are available). The problem is that we have become lazy, too focused on instant gratification, too comfortable with what we do now, too good at telling ourselves that we are fine, too expert in justifying away what we do to our bodies - which for many of us is downright abuse of the gift we have been given.

How would this help? Well, these people would then have the skills to apply good healthy eating principles they have learned and eat better, they would understand the importance of exercise and know HOW to apply that into their lives, and would know HOW (by experience not just listening to how) look after their bodies in the best way possible. Surely that would lead to reduced burden of disease.

And how do I propose we do that? By taking people by the hand and walking them through it, gradually letting them do more and more until they are at a point where they can start taking more of a lead and then finally at the point when they can lead themselves and their families (and even influence others around them) to apply positive changes and move towards healthier lives!