Home

A home is a place where a person or family lives, perhaps spends much of their time, or where a person is comfortable being.

Concept

While a house (or other residential dwelling) is often referred to as a home, the concept of "home" is broader than a physical dwelling. Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus. Many people think of home in terms of where they grew up, or a time rather than a place.^[1] The word "home" is also used for various residential institutions which aspire to create a home-like atmosphere, such as a retirement home, a nursing home, a 'group home' (an orphanage for children or a retirement home for adults), a foster home, etc.

There exist cultures lacking permanent homes, with nomadic people often moving their homes from place to place.

Psychological impact

Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior, emotions, and overall mental health. For example, in the introduction to the film Patch Adams, the concept of "home" is compared to the human need for peaceful sanctuary and the absence of it thus leading to restlessness. Such restlessness, as can be seen by that particular case, may lead to depression and, ultimately, to a loss of sanity.^[2]

References

1. ^ 41 results for: home. Dictionary.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
2. ^ Patch Adams Script - Dialogue Transcript. Script-o-rama.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.

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