We really shouldn’t treat mental health differently than physical health. The truth is, they’re connected. One’s a foundation, and the other’s a roof, but they’re both important aspects of the house that is “you.”
Does “just try to be positive” sound familiar? “It’s not that bad?” Mental health issues get minimized or seen as signs of weakness or lack of willpower, which lowers the quality of life even more for those suffering than the illness alone does. Is mental illness “all in your head?” Well, technically yes, but only in the sense that diabetes is “all in your pancreas.” Although the disease originates in a particular organ, it affects the totality of one’s experience— suddenly you’re having to take insulin shots and/or pills, regularly check your blood sugar levels, and watch what you eat like a hawk; think of it like if your neighborhood suddenly gets a new Homeowner’s Association and implements a ton of new rules—you have to trim your lawn to this many inches tall, you can’t have a trash can out where it’s visible from the street, etc.. People don’t tell you to walk off a broken limb or think your way out of a cold.
The distress our mental issues cause us, and the pain we feel after stubbing a toe, both register in the same organ: the brain. Mental and physical health are linked, perhaps inextricably. Our emotions change based on hunger or hormone levels; we can get cranky if we’re tired. The very fact that psychiatric medication exists suggests a link between physical and mental health—while mental illness may not be solely the fault of a chemical problem, the effectiveness of psychiatric medication implies that there is a biological component; as does the common doctor’s advice of making lifestyle changes to things like our diet, exercise, or sleep.
Speaking of sleep, having our sleep interrupted by loud, jarring alarm clocks isn’t good in the long run. Personally, I use the “Wake Up” feature of my iPhone’s clock app so I can have an alarm that slowly increases in volume. Getting jarred awake again and again can disrupt your sleep and leave you feeling groggy and fatigued and having difficulty concentrating on tasks, whether that means being productive at work or—if you have a mental illness—talking back to the malfunctioning part of your brain. And as much as we might like to sleep in on weekends, a regular sleep schedule is good sleep hygiene.
Regular exercise is also good. In past articles, we’ve brought up the notion that physical exercise has mental benefits (releasing endorphins, dopamine and serotonin, increased blood flow to the brain, etc.). Exercise, as well as yoga or other mindful practices, can help you improve your mental health (I’m not just saying that, I speak from experience) at the same time as improving your physical health. To go into more detail on mind-body practices, yoga’s just one example. Other such practices include meditation, “autogenic training” (the practice of using mental visualization and a focus on physical sensations to achieve deep relaxation), and, believe it or not, spa treatments—they’re expensive, but your skin or hair aren’t the only things they can rejuvenate. Massages can improve circulation and stimulate the release of endorphins; facials and body wraps can boost your mood and self-esteem. Plus, they’re a welcome distraction from any mental struggles you might be going through.
The foods we eat are important, too. If we think of the body as a car, the stomach is the fuel tank, and the brain’s the engine. You want to make sure that your car’s got quality fuel, right? There’s a direct route fromthe gut to the brain called the vagus nerve. Plus, certain nutrients are good for brain health. For example, nuts and seeds have a lot of magnesium, which promotes serotonin production. Serotonin, according to Harvard Health Publishing1, “is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain. Since about 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract, and your gastrointestinal tract is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, it makes sense that the inner workings of your digestive system don't just help you digest food, but also guide your emotions.” If you eat something high in sugar or carbs, you’ll get more stress hormones, which means worse anxiety or depression. Inflammation can damage blood vessels, including the ones in your brain2; if that happens, you can “look forward” to things like headache, confusion, and a stroke or even dying.
"The foods we eat are important, too. If we think of the body as a car, the stomach is the fuel tank, and the brain's the engine. You want to make sure your car's got quality fuel, right? "
As you can hopefully see, the lines between mental and physical health aren’t neat and distinct. What we do for one can have a sort of “domino effect” on the other. Without a strong foundation, your house will collapse into a pile of rubble; if the roof ’s leaking, mold can form and eat away at your foundation. Hopefully we can one day live in a world where “I went to psychotherapy last week” is given the same nonchalant reaction as “I went to the doctor last week.”
1 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on -food-201511168626
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