How Your Mental Health Impacts Your Overall Health

Mental health and physical health are inextricably linked. Your brain doesn’t just influence how your mind performs, it influences your other organs and systems, including your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. 

Conversely, when you’re physically unwell, the stress of illness can affect your mood and mental health.

Both mental illnesses and chronic diseases are common in the United States. They affect people of all ages:

• 1 in 5 adults has a mental illness
• 1 in 5 youth aged 13-18 has or had a mental illness
• 1 in 25 adults lives with a serious mental illness 
• 6 in 10 adults have a chronic disease 
• 10-20 million children have a chronic disease 

At Precise Research Centers, founder Joseph Kwentus, MD, and our team understand the importance of addressing mental health issues to improve a patient’s overall well-being and health. 

We conduct clinical trials with new medications and provide psychological support at our offices in Flowood, Mississippi, to help you thrive mentally and physically.

How does your mental health affect your physical health? Following are a few examples.

Mental illness raises risk for chronic diseases

Living with a chronic mental health illness raises your risk for a chronic disease. The interconnectedness of mind and body makes identifying the trigger difficult. Sometimes the stress and poor choices of mental illness create physical problems. Sometimes the stress of a chronic disease leads to depression.

What we do know is that people with mental illnesses are more prone to chronic diseases than the general population. People with mental illness have higher rates of:

• Obesity
• Diabetes
• HIV/AIDS
• Digestive diseases
• Cardiovascular disease
• Respiratory disease

Women, men, and children who have depression may be less likely to participate in activities and lifestyle choices that would raise their quality of life and general well-being. They might not get regular exercise or eat a whole-foods diet to sustain their health.

Depression and anxiety can also lead to social isolation behaviors that further stress the body. Loneliness creates more stress, which leads to more isolation, which then prevents them from getting the care and support they need to recover.

People with mental illness receive inadequate health care

The vicious cycle of poor mental health and poor physical health feeding into each other is compounded by the fact that many people with mental illness don’t receive adequate health care. First, they may avoid seeking care.

Second, when seeking care, they are more likely to be “written off” by physicians who may view them as difficult or noncompliant. In addition, they’re more likely to seek care in an emergency room or urgent care center, rather than seeing a doctor regularly for preventive care. 

Poor mental health can lead to poor decisions

Everything from social anxiety to bipolar disorder changes the way you think and the decisions you make. Fatigue often accompanies mental health issues, which may make even the simplest self-care routines a challenge. Rather than get help, the sufferer may neglect their hygiene or even reject food or water.

When someone suffers from a mental illness, they may try to medicate with easily accessible substances, such as alcohol or recreational drugs. 

Substance abuse can cause further issues with risk-taking, violence, or accidents, such as increasing the risk for a car crash. They’re also more likely to smoke, which could lead to cancer.

Certain mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, may cause delusions of grandeur or hallucinations that could lead to life-endangering behaviors. In about 17% of cases, the suicidal ideation that often accompanies mental illness may lead to physical death.

If you suffer from a major depressive disorder or other mental illness, take care of your mental and physical health by phoning our helpful staff at 601-685-3457. Or, you may choose to book an appointment online or send a message to our team using our convenient form.

If you’re accepted into one of our ongoing clinical trials, you receive all medications and supportive therapies without charge.