How Our Physical Health Can Impact Our Mental Health

As any mental health professional will tell you, physical health and emotional health are deeply intertwined.

A person’s physical state affects their mood, cognition, and overall emotional well-being. That’s why it’s so important for people to prioritize their physical health to protect their mental health.

Physical health can have a direct effect on our emotions.

When our body is sick or injured, it produces a hormonal response that causes us to experience distress. This can interfere with our ability to think clearly and negatively affect our mood. For example, someone who has a chronic illness may find it more difficult to manage stress and difficult emotions due to their physical impairment.

Additionally, physical health can also cause individuals to experience a lack of motivation or a feeling of helplessness. These feelings can sap the individual’s sense of joy and limit their enthusiasm for activities which can, in turn, contribute to fatigue, depression, and/or anxiety. It’s also important to note that physical illness can lead to social isolation, which further compounds a person’s mental and emotional distress. 

The good news is that physical health can have a positive impact on emotional well-being.

Exercise, for example, releases endorphins that make us feel better mentally. Eating healthy and nutritious foods can also help us stay mentally alert and emotionally balanced. Generally speaking, the better our physical health, the better we can cope with mental and emotional distress.  April is “Move More Month”, and we at Pacific Coast Therapy want to share some things to consider in addition to exercise that can help improve physical wellness.

Exercise has been shown to have positive effects on mental health.

Regular physical activity can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression while helping to improve mood and self-esteem. Exercise can also give us a sense of accomplishment and be a great way to connect with others and decrease isolation. Hitting the gym with a friend or a personal trainer can help us create a stronger bond and make us more accountable for our workouts. Exercise can also be an excellent way to express ourselves and vent emotions, which can help us find relief from difficult feelings.

Treating physical illness is one major way we can ensure our physical wellness is maintained.

It seems so simple to take cough medicine for a cold or Tylenol for a headache, but oftentimes our fast-paced society tells us that we have to just “power through”. We’re here to remind you that listening to your body and resting when needed is vital to maintaining physical and emotional wellness. Balanced eating is another important way to stay physically and emotionally fit. Fuelling our bodies with food that we both love eating and that gives us energy will help us to stay happy, focused, and energized throughout the day.

Speaking of energy, another major way we can keep up our physical health is by getting enough sleep each night. Everyone is different when it comes to how much sleep they need to stay energized, but it’s important to ensure regular sleep is part of your healthy lifestyle.

Finally, avoiding mood-altering substances is an important way to ensure we are in control of our emotions and behaviors. Sometimes it seems easier to use drugs or alcohol as a way to take the edge off, but mood-altering substances can have varied long-term negative effects on our bodies. Staying away from these substances is one of the best ways we can take care of our physical and emotional health!