WEMWBS represents mental wellbeing as:

• Both feeling good and functioning well. The scales therefore cover:

  • eudemonic and hedonic wellbeing (as talked about in the ancient philosophical context)
  • psychological functioning and subjective wellbeing (as talked about in current psychology and social science research)

• One end of a continuum of mental health with the opposite end being mental illness, mental health problems or psychiatric disorders. The concept of mental wellbeing defined by WEMWBS is therefore much more than the absence of mental illness. People who have been given a diagnosis of mental illness can and do experience wellbeing when their illness is not making them feel bad or function poorly.

• Holistically linked to other aspects of wellbeing: physical, social and, where appropriate, spiritual. The relational aspects of mental wellbeing are inherent in the scales.

For further information on mental wellbeing and the positioning of WEMWBS in the debate see: Interdisciplinary and Historical Context