HOW TO OWN THE KEYS TO YOUR HEALTH?
The control center of our being is our central nervous system. The idea that there is a link between our mental and physical health isn’t new, but we have only begun to realize how strong that link really is.
Nature has awarded us with the ability to perceive. It has taught us to attach emotional meaning to these perceptions which in turn are translated into material form within our brains in the form of neurotransmitters and hormones. The emotions we feel and the decisions we make due to our feelings are thus controlled by these chemical mediators of emotion. Yet at the same time, our beliefs, words, and actions, have an equally important effect on governing these chemical mediators and thus on governing our emotions. And this is what we can control!
The normal balance of these neurotransmitters; and their fluctuations within a normal range; is what keeps our “mental health” in place. This balance can be deranged due to several internal pathologies. At the same time, however, any external influence of our environment can disturb this balance as well.
“THE MIND MOST EFFECTUALLY WORKS UPON THE BODY, PRODUCING BY HIS PASSIONS AND PERTURBATIONS MIRACULOUS ALTERATIONS… CRUEL DISEASES AND SOMETIMES DEATH ITSELF.”
— ROBERT BURTON, THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY.
This disturbance is what results in extreme emotions of grief, loneliness, excitement, and mania. If these disturbances become dramatically persistent, they manifest in the form of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and a multitude of other disorders. These momentary or continual “mental health problems” in turn are responsible for directly or indirectly causing derangements in our physical health.
These derangements ultimately impact the cellular processes at the micro level which can potentially lead to cellular aging. Bear in mind that the key to keeping our cells and our bodies young is to stay healthy, and not just physically. Mental health is just as important and might really be what controls our physical health…
AS ABOVE-SO BELOW
The effects that poor mental health can have on our physical health can be categorized as direct effects and indirect effects. The direct effects would be those chronic diseases and immune system anomalies that are associated with poor mental health, while the indirect effects would be those that result from behavioral changes due to bad mental health.
DIRECT EFFECTS OF POOR MENTAL HEALTH ON PHYSICAL HEALTH
A number of chronic diseases have been described that are associated with mental or psychological disorders. Mental stress has also been implicated in triggering these conditions…
Cardiovascular disorders
Heart failure, hypertension, and other such conditions have been associated with chronic stress. Depressed individuals can have higher chances of developing such conditions. That may be in part due to their unhealthy lifestyle.¹
Diabetes mellitus
This is another condition that is linked to having a stressful mind. Stress does not directly cause diabetes but it does increase the risk of developing this disease. This is in part due to the hormone “cortisol” which is released during stressful conditions.
Eating disorders
Many such disorders have psychological causes. Obsessive-compulsive disorders and anxiety are at the core of some eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia nervosa. They involve symptoms like food restriction, compulsive exercise, binge eating, and purging by self-induced vomiting. These habits can become addictive in a way and cause serious damage to your physical wellbeing.³
Gastrointestinal problems
Many GI illnesses also arise with poor mental health conditions. Psychogenic diarrhea is a documented condition that occurs due to extreme anxiety. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder that also has psychological causes. For example, people who have faced childhood trauma are more prone to develop this disorder than those who haven’t. Physicians are now focusing on administering psychological treatment to patients suffering from IBS.
Sexual dysfunction:
Mental health problems like depression, psychosis, and personality disorders have been liked to sexual dysfunction. Many mental health patients suffer from problems like impotence, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation. Menstrual abnormalities have also been associated with many mental health disorders.5
Skin Problems:
Many skin conditions are associated with psychological stress and poor mental health. Many psychological or psychiatric patients develop skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, and acne. This can have serious adverse effects on their quality of life.
Cancer
People who stress out too much have an increased risk of developing cancer. One research explains that chronic stress can have effects like uncontrolled cell proliferation in some parts of the body which leads to cancer.¹
Deranged Immune System
It has been postulated that a person’s state of mental health affects the immune status of an individual and vice versa. The nervous system and immune system are linked through hormonal and neuronal mechanisms. The chemical mediators released from the nerves have an effect on immune cells and the cytokines, chemicals produced during an immune response, influence the activity of the brain. Adverse mental states are associated with the production of stress hormones and such transmission of nerve impulses which modulate the activity of the immune system. This relationship suggests that adverse mental health states are associated with the derangement of the immune system leading to susceptibility to infection, activation of inflammation, and various autoimmune conditions.
INDIRECT EFFECTS OF POOR MENTAL HEALTH ON PHYSICAL HEALTH
The behavioral changes that result from poor mental health can result in poor dietary and sleeping habits as well as an increased tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol.
Sleep
Sleep is essential for normal diurnal activities of our body and for maintaining functional balance. Inadequate sleep affects cognition, memory, performance and causes headaches. Altered mental states such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder influence the sleep-wake cycle leading to poor sleep habits such as insomnia, hypersomnia, and disrupted sleep. In turn, these sleep disturbances exacerbate mental disorders by affecting normal brain function and a person enters a vicious cycle of worsening sleep habits and mental condition.
Research has proven that patients with pre-existing chronic illnesses experience altered sleep habits due to stress which in turn is responsible for the poor quality of life. Disrupted sleep has an effect on physical health via the enhanced activity of the Autonomic Nervous System which causes vascular disturbances which are the root of various medical disorders. It is also associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, cancer, and can even lead to death.
Smoking and Substance Abuse
The brain is the control center of our body which is primarily affected by mental disorders that impair cognition, memory, emotional balance, and decision-making ability. In such a state the person is prone to developing a negative attitude and questionable habits which will not only influence his life but also his physical health. A person may fall into the pit of excessive smoking and substance abuse, which will deteriorate his mental health further and pose harm to his physical health. Alcohol consumption; for example; can alter GI, heart, and liver function and can even lead to cancer. A habit of smoking can adversely affect the lungs and under the influence of drugs, a person can be involved in a road accident. These scenarios would invite further disease and misery and consequently reduce the overall quality of life.⁹
Physical Activity
Mental diseases affect daily life activities. The person lacks the motivation to perform daily life chores and adopting a healthy lifestyle seems next to impossible. Poor diet and lack of physical activity adversely affect the health, making the patient prone to develop diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and its associated adverse outcomes.
CONCLUSION
As established, our physical health is controlled to a great extent by our mental health. If we wish to live younger and prolong our youth, it is only logical to free ourselves of all such mentally taxing environments that can induce emotional toxicity. It is imperative that we actively partake in such exercises and develop such habits as would enhance our emotional stability, strengthen our minds and bodies, and ultimately augment our cellular health. Such meditation and breathing techniques have been described in my book “Lead A Horse To Water”.
Remember, the goal is to live a disease-free life and to enjoy our youth to the maximum. That is what we at HolisticLiveYounger are all about!
Bibliography
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- “Stress and diabetes | The impact on your wellbeing | Diabetes UK.” https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/emotions/stress (accessed Dec. 29, 2021).
- “What Are Eating Disorders?” https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/eating-disorders/what-are-eating-disorders (accessed Dec. 29, 2021).
- R. Tripathi and S. Mehrotra, “Irritable bowel syndrome and its psychological management,” Ind. Psychiatry J., vol. 24, no. 1, p. 91, 2015, DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.160947.
- Z. Zemishlany and A. Weizman, “The impact of mental illness on sexual dysfunction,” Adv. Psychosom. Med., vol. 29, pp. 89–106, 2008, DOI: 10.1159/000126626.
- K. H. Basavaraj, M. A. Navya, and R. Rashmi, “Relevance of psychiatry in dermatology: Present concepts,” Indian J. Psychiatry, vol. 52, no. 3, p. 270, Jul. 2010, DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.70992.
- L. Steinman, “Elaborate interactions between the immune and nervous systems,” Nat. Immunol., vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 575–581, Jun. 2004, DOI: 10.1038/NI1078.
- G. Medic, M. Wille, and M. E. H. Hemels, “Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption,” Nat. Sci. Sleep, vol. 9, p. 151, 2017, DOI: 10.2147/NSS.S134864.
- A. Saban et al., “The association between substance use and common mental disorders in young adults: results from the South African Stress and Health (SASH) Survey,” Pan Afr. Med. J., vol. 17, no. Suppl 1, p. 11, 2014, DOI: 10.11694/PAMJ.SUPP.2014.17.1.3328.
- D. Vancampfort et al., “Sedentary behavior and physical activity levels in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder: a global systematic review and metaanalysis,” World Psychiatry, vol. 16, no. 3, p. 308, Oct. 2017, DOI: 10.1002/WPS.20458.