Do We Have Free Will Essay

In Control or Victims of our Environment in terms of Health Behavior – Do we Actually have Free Will? The age-old debate of whether free will exists or not is a thorny subject, particularly in the health field, since the days of Freud. Does an individual have complete autonomy over their health choices or do environmental and situational factors collectively act as a grand puppeteer in manipulating our choices? The arguments for both sides are met with personal baggage because to declare one side over the other is to state we as individuals are responsible for our health mistakes or admit that we are simply products of our environment, holding no autonomy over our behaviors. Nonetheless, research done throughout the 21st century sheds insight to the conflict and science heavily leans towards the answer of humans as victims of the environment …show more content…
An inescapable aspect of life, and determined to be necessary in normal human development (Institute of Medicine 1). Social connectedness is believed to breed a vast amount of health outcomes ranging from morbidity to mortality. A poor social network and social support have been linked to major illnesses, such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Additionally, research has linked social support to neuroendocrine regulation. Ignoring all of the physical illnesses, perhaps the most powerful influence socialness has on our health is psychological. Depression is linked to social support and depression permeates through every area of our life (Institute of Medicine 3). I chose to use this SES factor last because of its endless tangency. Socialness is a blueprint aspect in life and its correlations to health are certainly causal. Examining this aspect through an objective lens undoubtedly links the idea that we are victims of our environment and the aforementioned major SES factors ultimately choreograph our health