Table of Contents
The Connection
Physical Health’s Effect
Mental Health’s Effect
Tips
An increasing body of research shows that physical and mental health are inextricably linked, and research shows that any improvement or decline in one could result in a gain or decrease in the other.1 What exactly is it that makes each affect the other? What is happening within the body that allows changes to alter the other?
The Relationship Between Mental Health and Physical Health
To better understand why physical and mental health are so closely connected, realising that the difference between them isn’t as significant as we think is crucial. Our moods, thoughts and state of mind may seem disconnected from physical health. However, they’re all occurring within our brain’s activities.
This is an excellent example of how the brain and body are the physical and mental shifts during menstrual cycles. Research has shown that hormonal changes throughout menstrual cycles impact more than the reproductive system.
How Does Physical Health Affect Mental Health?
A complex interplay between changes in the body and mental health was the interaction between hormones and dopamine. Dopamine, also known as the “happiness hormone, ” is associated with motivation, reward and numerous other functions within the brain. Estrogen decreases the dopamine signal, miming the effects of various antipsychotic medicines. After birth, when estrogen levels drop dramatically, there is a rise in susceptibility to psychosis for some individuals.2. For those with ADHD, it can make the symptoms worse. For those who have bipolar disorder or other disorders which are associated with psychosis, it may make the symptoms of psychosis less severe.
Other hormonal changes affecting mental health are serotonin and estrogen. In certain women, the decrease in estrogen towards the end of their menstrual period leads to reductions in serotonin levels within the brain, causing mental health issues.
The hormones that regulate reproduction aren’t the only ones connected to mental health. Metabolic hormones such as cortisol and insulin leptin, cortisol, and others–have been proven to affect a range of mental disorders, including ADHD and schizophrenia, to eating disorders.
Studies have shown that interaction can be a two-way road. Metabolic issues like diabetes, hypertension, or lengthy periods of low nutrition can lead to changes in the brain that result in neurodevelopmental and mood problems. In the same way, some mental health conditions can trigger stress, which causes metabolic changes that may lead to the same metabolic diseases over time.3
How Does Mental Health Affect Physical Health?
Numerous studies have revealed that mental illness can increase the rate of biological ageing, resulting in higher rates of heart disease and other age-related ailments. One of the psychiatric disorders known as schizophrenia has been linked with a 10-20 year shorter life expectancy.4
It is important to note that these findings have plenty of nuance, and being diagnosed with depression does not always indicate a lower life expectancy. The research is dependent on epigenetic clocks. An algorithm that predicts biological age based on a process known as DNA methylation.
However, there’s more to ageing than only DNA methylation. It’s, therefore, more beneficial to consider an epigenetic clock an indicator of risk or a predictor, just like people with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer are more at risk but aren’t guaranteed to be diagnosed with cancer.
What the research suggests is that mental illness could be connected to premature ageing in several different ways:
They could lead to unhealthy habits such as inadequate diet, insufficient exercise, and use of substances that can be detrimental to physical health.
Many mental health disorders and the stress that they create can interfere with sleep and affect your physical health over time.
Stress can lead to an increase in cortisol levels over time, affecting almost every bodily function, including digestion, cardiovascular, immune, and reproductive systems.
For those who have mental illness, this could expose them to various diseases, which include:
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Diabetes
Stroke
Cancer
The Connection Between Mental Health and Physical Health
Tips for Maintaining Mental and Physical Health
There is a silver lining in all of the research that has been conducted on the interplay between mental and physical health. It suggests that the body and brain are both highly responsive to changes.
This adaptability is a large part of what can trigger the snowball effect of physical and mental health issues. However, this same flexibility allows whatever you do to care for yourself to start the snowball effect of positive changes to your body. Here are a few points you could begin with.
Make Regular Exercise a Lifelong Habit
The mental and physical health benefits of exercise are difficult to quantify. It boosts the strength and endurance of muscles and improves metabolic function. It also reduces inflammation, increases your immune system, boosts respiratory and cardiovascular health, and contributes to better gut microbiome diversity.6
These physical health benefits can enhance mental health as they’re interconnected. However, exercise can provide positive effects on the brain, too. The benefits include improved cognition; enhanced executive function, which offers work memory, impulse management and decreased anxiety and depression symptoms; and less stress.
The majority of benefits are cumulative. This means you’ll need to maintain your regimen for a time before you can notice any difference. However, exercise can also provide certain immediate benefits, such as a boost in mood for some time after training, an increase in energy levels, and mild discomfort relief.