Emotional well-being is a term that has seen increasing use in recent decades. The implications of decreased emotional well-being are related to mental health concerns such as stress, depression, and anxiety. These in turn can contribute to physical ill-health such as digestive disorders, sleep disturbances, and general lack of energy. On the positive side, enhanced emotional well-being is seen to contribute to upward spirals in increasing coping ability,self-esteem, performance and productivity at work, and even longevity. Emotional well-being is also one of two aspects of personal well-being that can be measured in quantitative quality of life assessments, the other being 'life evaluation', the evaluation of one's life in general against a scale. It is a term receiving attention from many groups from new-age therapists to management consultants, from outdoor recreation enthusiasts to carers for the elderly. It is also of interest to many parents, youth workers, school teachers, anti-bullying campaigners and those thinking about retirement, as well as to psychologists and other health professionals.
The Surgeon General of the United States has made emotional well-being one of his priorities and spoke about it's importance at the Aspen Ideas Festival 2016.