Mental health vs physical health....?

[PrairieRose]

I'm curious as to how many of us consider our mental health or the state thereof, relevant to our physical health....? My mamma always said 'happiness is a choice' and I truly believe that. I also have learned in my own lifetime that what I concentrate on the most, whether it be the things I want or the things I'm afraid of seem to actually be drawn into my life. I'd love to discuss how important our state of mind is to our overall health and how we create our lives in line with our thoughts.......anyone have any input? I'll weigh in later on with some of my own ideas and thoughts.

[perSue]

there's also another saying i'm sure many of us have heard is "mind over body"... where if you think it, it's true.
be that a state of mind (i feel healthy today!) or other (i want to lose weight).

I think our mental health coincides with our physical health... and they both affect each other in obvious ways.

there are the motivational saying ppl give themselves/each other...
there are "lies" we tell ourselves til we believe it...

it's a matter of perspective. if you're happy where you are, who you are, etc... you WILL be happy... and therefore healthier.
(it's known that happy ppl are healthier.)

so yes i say that mind/body are fully connected, intertwined with one another and what affects one does affect the other.

[Lady_V]

I think our emotional health has a lot to do with physical well-being. When we are depressed, we don't take care of our body as well as we should... bad eating habits, grooming etc... I know I am guilty of the oreo diet and just tossing the mop in a ponytail and slumping around the house when I am blue.

Karma and energy contributes a lot to healing as well... Before I go for surgery, I mentally prep myself for the hospitalization and after-care. Hospitals are rather depressing when you have to stare at the ceiling from a lumpy bed so I bring soduko and logic games to keep my mind sharp and a book of funny short stories and a good book for 'portable happiness' (I've even snuck a bottle of bubbles... what a look on the nurses face when she comes in and it looks like the ghost of Lawrence Welk paid me a visit)

When the insides feel like crude, it isn't long before the outsides reflect it... and vice versa... when you are happy with the reflection in the mirror, you have a little bounce in your step.

[stinkbug]

Obviously your mom never suffered from mental illness. It's really not as simple as "I think I'll feel better today" I really, really dislike that message....but that's the stigma still attached to depression, etc. and a dangerous generalization.

I think I'll go click my heals together and tell myself to *be happy*.

[starsapphire]

This is a very relevant topic for me right now. Today is the first day of a two week vacation. My job is quite stressful and when I get too stressed out my physical health starts to decline - immune system goes down and I pick up the latest bug thats going around, start getting migraines too, and get very cranky and 'witchy'. So I'm taking two weeks off of work and not going anywhere, just getting away from that place so I can relax and recharge my batteries.

In my life I have seen how being chronically full of hate and anger can cause cancer.

There's a woman who works in the same building I do. Awhile back she broke her foot, had to have surgery on it. Infection set in, and her broken bone wasn't healing and she was telling me all this and her doctor told her he had done all he could do and didn't know why she wasn't healing. This had been dragging on for months. I said well, have you tried visualizing healing? Visualize your immune system killing the infection and your bones knitting together. She said I haven't thought of that, it can't hurt. Soon after, she was out of her cast and was healed right up. I think she just needed to be reminded to mentally tune in to her body's healing system.

It's also been my experience that whatever I put my focus on the most eventually comes true, good or bad. Positive attracts positive, and negative attracts negative. And that energy ripples outward like throwing a pebble in a pond and bounces back to me and affects many areas of my life at once.

[Drgnfly423]

I agree that the mind and body are inter-connected. I know when I eat right and am more physical I have an easier time dealing with stressful situations.

I also agree that our lives are "created in line with our thoughts".
If I wake up and think "what a crappy day" and that's how I keep thinking all day, I'm sure that's just what I'll be handed. Bad drive to work, bad day at work, terrible lunch, awful co-workers, etc.

But if I take it like it is...one moment at a time. Life is what it is. To me, everything happens for a reason. I'm here to deal with it, and I want to do that in the best, most positive way possible.

That would be in a perfect world. I get angry and frustrated, just like the next person. I just try to be more aware of my actions so the next time I can hopefully stay more positive.

[coffeechick]

I've suffered from mental illness(es) over half my life. And mind/body are so intertwined that you can't truly separate them. I think of mental illness as a brain disease. Your brain is as much a part of your body as your heart or your spleen.

When I get really depressed, I ache all over. It makes it even harder to get out of bed. With anxiety, I can't sleep and I get nauseous and can start vomiting. Both of those cause me to not eat properly, which makes it worse. If I don't sleep, my moods go wacky.

Simple things like a hot shower, nice scented lotion do wonders for my mind...and my body.

I don't think it's a "versus" as in which is more important. You have to address BOTH. IMHO.

[PrairieRose]

Obviously your mom never suffered from mental illness. It's really not as simple as "I think I'll feel better today" I really, really dislike that message....but that's the stigma still attached to depression, etc. and a dangerous generalization.

I think I'll go click my heals together and tell myself to *be happy*.

No my mom never suffered with a diagnosed mental illness but I'm certain sure she suffered from clinical depression at many times during her life. I know that a lot her illnesses were caused by her mental state too. I watched her so many times slide into depression and then before long she was physically ill. I don't claim that any of us can click our heals and tell ourselves to be happy....but I do know for sure that whatever we concentrate on in our daily lives, our thoughts.....is miraculously drawn to us. I wasn't making generalized, blanket statements with my question....sorry if I struck a nerve. Mental illness has touched my family on more than one occaission and I know from experience that it's not pretty.

[annymoll]

I believe thoughts influence the aging process.I avoid discussing how "old" I am getting .I do not listen to others who talk about their creaks, aches and pains. It seems to me that the folks who talk "old" are old, they appear old, they act old.Some folks seem bitter and angry. It brings me down physically to be around them.Very depressing.Not what I want to create in my life. Love the happy, cheerful folks. Their happiness is uplifting and contagious.I feel physically energized around them.

[forHISglory]

The mind/body connection is so complex, but there is no question about the relationship. It is all part of the same organism. I find truth in Scripture and even there it says that laughter is good medicine! So to me it stands to reason that unhappiness is bad medicine.

I know this is pretty simplistic for such a topic, but even in this simple level, it's plain to me that a connection exists. I'm pretty tired tonight and this post is probably not making a lot of sense. My tired state of mind is actually messing up not only my concentration but also my fingers as they type.

[Palooka]

Well I agree that when your mental health is so bad, your body will show it...I mean stress can kill you faster than ever.

But I think it is also important to bring in low serotonin levels and chemical imbalances, family history and such. Things you just can't change even if you have a million bucks in the bank.

I have dealt with generalized anxiety for years.. I can't help it. I can not 'just change' the way I think.

I can be a happy camper and still deal with anxiety which does/cause depression sometimes.It's a vicious cycle.

I agree with coffechick.

Mental illness is very big in my family. My mom is like the greatest Christian out there, but still has to take meds, because of serotonin. She is like the mom I never had now.

[Palooka]

In my life I have seen how being chronically full of hate and anger can cause cancer.

That's a pretty bold statement. Care to back that up with facts.


Sorry, I just now saw this post. And...breath!

[Jskell911]

Well I agree that when your mental health is so bad, your body will show it...I mean stress can kill you faster than ever.

But I think it is also important to bring in low serotonin levels and chemical imbalances, family history and such. Things you just can't change even if you have a million bucks in the bank.

I have dealt with generalized anxiety for years.. I can't help it. I can not 'just change' the way I think.

I can be a happy camper and still deal with anxiety which does/cause depression sometimes.It's a vicious cycle.

I too suffer severe clinical depression, Anxiety w/ panic attacks, and PTSD due to recurring rape. Now I am nobody's victim, except that of my own self! I am naturally a very optimistic person, very upbeat, but inside some days I feel as if I am suffocating. I MAKE the choice to be happy, but due to my mental illnesses, my body does not always get this message.

Yes, I believe the mind and body are intertwined. However, I do also believe that it is not all a matter of choice for some people. Mental illness is a very real, very complicated illness. And it is as real as Diabetes. A part of my brain does not function the way it was designed to. Just as a Diabetics pancreas does not function in the way it should. Is that their fault for not thinking more positively? Of course it's not. Just as my depression, etc is not due to anything I have or have not done.

[mom2three]

It's funny that you should mention diabetes and mental illness in the same post. I just heard an interview with a medical expert today that said people with various mental illnesses are at higher risk of diabetes. I also know that there are many celiacs that suffer depression and a new study has come out that 70% of celiacs have anxiety. The mind-body connection is not only linked to optimism-pessimism, but is likely linked to nutritional deficiencies that can affect both. For example things like vitamin D can help with depression as well as reducing cancer risk and may decrease the incidence of multiple sclerosis. Magnesium can decrease depression, be used to treat headaches and muscle pains, help with constipation, and decrease incontinence as well as many other things. There is also some evidence that some mental illness may be autoimmune diseases. Mind and body are more closely related than recognized.

[larabelle]

I've suffered from mental illness(es) over half my life. And mind/body are so intertwined that you can't truly separate them. I think of mental illness as a brain disease. Your brain is as much a part of your body as your heart or your spleen.
I don't think it's a "versus" as in which is more important. You have to address BOTH. IMHO.

I totally agree. I worked in the mental health field for several years at both public and private hospitals. I even worked in a prison with the criminally insane and at a state mental hospital. You have to address both because both are VERY intertwined.