The negative effect poor personal hygiene has on a person’s overall sense of well-being

Legal Law

For several days I have been trying to decide on a topic to write about and have had no luck finding one that I feel comfortable with. While this weighed heavily on my mind, I woke up one morning and, as is my custom, got into the shower and began to wash and soak myself. The hot water was great and I enjoyed complete satisfaction as it gently cascaded down and hit my body. As I applied my favorite men’s body wash, using it as directed, my thoughts turned to how wonderful it was to be able to shower and stay clean, but wonder what the negative impact would be if I couldn’t keep clean and practice good personal practices. hygiene. So there you have it. I decided to use that moment of epiphany revelation as a starting point for this article. I am happy to have done it. It is a worthwhile topic to write about. What then is the negative impact of a general lack of personal hygiene and a habitually dirty body, on that person’s general sense of well-being?

Where do we look for answers to this perplexing question? I decided to focus on the plight of ordinary people as the most transparent and meaningful examples of the point I wanted to make. I want to make it perfectly clear that I don’t see any causal relationship suggesting that the inability to practice good personal hygiene is the cause of someone having to live on the streets. But I do suggest that it is axiomatic that there is a nexus that establishes the need to live on the streets as the main cause of a person’s inability to practice the requirements of good personal hygiene.

  • Problems encountered by lack of personal hygiene: the effect of a dirty body on general well-being

Being forced to live on the street or in some other place where a person cannot do what is necessary for good personal hygiene has devastating effects. Here are some of them.

Employment

If such a person was employed when this problem arose, it is unlikely that he would be able to remain employed much longer than a week after moving out. Because who among us will look with charity and patience at someone in the workforce, perhaps in the next cubicle, filling the available air with body odor?

What are the job prospects if I didn’t already have a job? After a week or so living on the streets, his chances of getting a suitable job are slim to none and getting smaller as the days go by.

social considerations

She would be an exceptional host or hostess who would sponsor a dinner that she would invite our person down the street to attend. Even if it is a close friend, I suggest that no invitation be sent and that the most that would happen is that they could be offered food discreetly as a way of extending charity. In the name of brotherly love, he might even be allowed to take a shower. But how many times could I count on that? He would have exhausted his welcome by the end of the first week, if not sooner. Again, your lack of cleanliness, dirty clothes, body odor, and bad breath that exist in such circumstances are all obstacles to your inclusion in the social network, if any, that you had prior to this disaster.

Then, too, there are people who, for whatever reason, are just plain sloppy and even unwilling to put in the time to get clean. This type of person almost by definition becomes a social misfit and loner. Shy and introverted, he often spent his time alone withdrawing from the world and from other people who would normally be able to actively participate in his life in a meaningful way.

Medical and health concerns

Finally, there is a series of medical and general health conditions that are contracted by living on the streets. Lice on the head and pubic areas are acquired from the need to use shabby public restrooms and from having to sleep almost literally on the floor every night. Colds and the flu are becoming common, as are other medical conditions that require treatment.

What can be done to help?

What are some of the things we need to do to remedy or mitigate the effects of these life circumstances that are affecting the general sense of well-being of those facing this problem?

  • Up-to-date vaccines are needed to protect public health and, wherever possible, prevent disease outbreaks.
  • Proper sanitation is a must.
  • Building low-cost public housing to put a roof over the heads of the homeless and get them off the streets.
  • Those who have the means to take care of themselves, but don’t, should attend a seminar on how to stay clean and healthy.
  • For a person who simply does not want to maintain personal cleanliness, there is very little we can do for him, except to do everything possible to instill the need, if necessary, hiring the service of professionals in social work, psychology and other disciplines.
  • People with other disabilities have their local public health department and a number of social and religious entities to turn to. The Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, and similar programs are widely available for the homeless, elderly, and disabled. Depending on one’s circumstances, education and advice on how to properly care for oneself may be available. The Internet, a good phone book, and the Department of Public Health are good resources for identifying available local agencies capable of providing help to a person who wants to overcome this problem.

conclusion

Failure to follow good personal hygiene practices will lead to a variety of personal, social, and medical conditions that will greatly impact a person’s overall sense of well-being. They also have the potential to cause problems for the general population if allowed to get out of control. A wise person once wrote the aphorism “cleanliness is next to godliness”. By remembering this, it serves as a reminder of our need to practice good personal hygiene.

© Douglas M Midgley, JD All rights reserved worldwide

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