The mind and body are often seen as separate, but mental health and physical health are closely related. Having good mental health can positively affect your physical health, as well as the reverse.
Mental health plays a big role in your overall well-being. Being in a good mental state can help you remain healthy and can help to prevent serious health conditions. A positive psychological well-being has shown to have a reduction in heart attacks and strokes. Unfortunately, having a poor mental state can also lead to poor physical health and harmful behaviors. Depression has been linked to illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis. Mental health conditions can also make managing chronic illness more difficult.
Those who struggle with mental health conditions are more likely to also struggle with sleeping disorders like sleep apnea or insomnia. Insomnia can make it very difficult to fall or remain asleep. Sleep apnea leads to breathing difficulties, which causes you to wake up frequently. While depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder can lead to sleeping problems, sleep problems can also make mental health conditions worse.
Those with mental health conditions are more likely to smoke than their counterparts. Among smokers, those with mental health struggles tend to smoke a larger amount of nicotine. Those with depression have lower levels of dopamine (a feel good chemical in your brain). Nicotine triggers the production of dopamine, so smoking can give some relief of symptoms temporarily. Since the relief is only temporary, this can lead to addiction and other health conditions.
If you would like to improve your well-being, you need to take care of both your mental and physical health. For more support around this, click here.
