Needs

What does the term ‘needs’ mean to the average person today, and how does it differ from one person to another?

A need or needs, by definition are what people require to survive and live. It is necessary and a necessity and shouldn’t be confused with wants which is just a human emotion of desire are not as essential and important when it comes to survival. As times change, so do people and their needs and that will affect all the decisions they make in order to ensure every possible need is met. As people will always have their own needs to fulfill and as such differ to each individual, needs can best be sorted by using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which include the basic, safety and security, social, esteem and self-actualization.  

The most basic needs refer to the most absolute and essential of needs, for which without it people cannot live, such as food, water, shelter, sleep and metabolic requirements. Fifteen million children die of starvation every year. The World Bank estimates that in Asia, Africa and South America, over five hundred million people are living in “absolute poverty” and cannot afford clean water, food and hygiene requirements. Shelter functions to protect people against the elements. People need a place to sleep, to offer protection against the rain or sun. The United Nations Commission estimates that there are over a hundred million people worldwide who are homeless. In 2005, the World Bank revealed that almost eighty percent of the world’s population is living under the poverty line. At this level on the hierarchy of needs, every human on the planet will have in common as without the basic needs fulfilled, the human body cannot function.

Security comes next on the level of needs after the basics have been satisfied. All people will require a sense of stability and control in their lives and this comes from the safety and security needs on the hierarchy. This along with the basic physiological needs is another necessity for people. The basic fundamentals are job/financial security, health and well being, and safety against accidents and illness. The basic of all these requirements is money. This is a problem that is faced everyday by billions of people as some struggle to survive on just $2.50 a day. All throughout life, people will require financial security whether it is to start a family or to add to that savings account for a comfortable retirement. Health and well-being is something everyone strives too because having a poor health can result costing more than being healthy. Skipping a day’s work or if it is more serious that involves admission into a hospital. Adequate health care is becoming an increasing crisis that faces the world and especially in Africa, the third world countries of Asia, South America and the Middle East where people below the poverty line are unable to receive proper health care because it is unaffordable.  Almost fifteen million people die every year in low income countries from diseases.

The requirement for self esteem and a social acceptance is a need that can differ from person to person. The feeling of belongingness to a group of friends, family or the office setting is another human requirement. Maslow believed that esteem can be divided in to a lower one and a higher one. Esteem achieved from the lower one comes from status, recognition, prestige and attention given from other people. The higher one is the need for self-respect, self-confidence, independence and freedom. A deprivation of these needs will result in psychological imbalances, inferiority complex, social anxiety and clinical depression. The need for acceptance and love is equally important as without these, serious mental and physical effects will start to project and result in the deterioration of a person’s well being. The seriousness of these consequences of these have resulted in the loss of 850 000 lives a year and is estimated by the World Health Organization that 154 million suffer from depression, 25 million from schizophrenia, 91 million from alcohol use disorder and 15 million drug use disorder.

The last need for self actualization is a desire to realize and achieve one’s full potential and become everything that one is capable of becoming. Maslow came to the conclusion that in order to achieve this, all other levels must be mastered first. This level of need refers to each individual’s own goals and dreams and their want to accomplish them. This need however will in fact differ from every individual as arriving at this need requires motivation and an individual desire.

To sum up, any person’s needs can be met with the six levels in the hierarchy that begins with basic needs, the need for security, a strong self esteem and a sense of belonging, - and ultimately the desire for self actualization. People will differ in their needs. Some people may only require the basics and maybe job security to fulfill the simplest of needs. Others may require recognition and praise and status to prove they have succeeded in life. In my opinion, hierarchy of needs is the reason why some people have a different perception to what is ‘needs’.  Some may perceive being fulfilled as being self-actualized, that is reaching what they are capable of becoming or being even more than what they are capable of but to others it may just reach the level of love and belonging. All needs should be met, as each are equally important and is only to maintain an individual’s good health ( be it physical or psychological) and well-being.