How Does Mental Health Affect Physical Health?

It’s well-known that physical health can improve mental health. A 15-minute jog a day is enough to lower your risk of developing depression and those who exercise regularly commonly report better moods. This is well-understood and is to do with the release of endorphins and serotonin during exercise, as well as a reduction in blood pressure and cortisol levels. However, does the effect work the other way round? How does mental health affect physical health? Here’s how your emotional wellbeing causes physical bodily improvements.

Reduced Risk of Chronic Conditions

If you’re ever in doubt that the mind and body are causally connected, then look into the studies that have been conducted on emotional wellbeing and chronic illness. Those who report high levels of psychological wellbeing have lower risks of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. People who live with schizophrenia have a particularly high risk of heart and respiratory diseases.

Much of this is due to the role of cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol is found in higher levels in the bodies of those with anxiety and depression. Too much of it raises your blood pressure and heart rate, which can lead to the serious conditions mentioned above. When you look after your mental wellness, you reduce your stress and anxiety, which allows the body to breathe, relax, and stay healthy.

Improving your mood, therefore, isn’t just a way to feel good. It seems to have a measurable physiological improvement on your body. Of course, physical health problems can also lead to mental health concerns so it can be difficult to know the direction of causation. However, these studies do suggest that there’s something about being happy that has a real impact on your physical health.

Avoiding Physical Addictions

Addiction should be and often is considered a mental health issue. Anyone who has a problematic relationship with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex, gambling, or any other addictive activity can be said to be struggling with mental health concerns. A substance use disorder is a mental health condition where a person is unable to control their consumption of harmful substances.

50% of those with serious mental health conditions also struggle with the abuse of a substance. More than half of drug abusers have serious mental health conditions. The relationship is clear. Drugs and alcohol help to block out heightened levels of stress, anxiety, and sadness. This is how neglecting your mental health can quickly become a serious physical health concern.

These drugs can kill you directly if an overdose occurs but they also lead to short and long-term health conditions. The health effects are well-known, with cigarettes often leading to lung cancer and alcohol responsible for liver disease among many other illnesses. It may seem that the substance causes these serious health concerns but, if you trace the causal trail backwards, it often comes down to poor mental health.

Improving Sleep Quality

Another way in which your poor quality of mental health can impact your physical health is by causing sleep deprivation. Between a quarter and a third of people living with insomnia also experience some form of anxiety disorder.  According to one study, having an anxiety-related mental health condition makes you five times more likely to struggle with a sleep disorder. This reveals a very clear link between low mood during the day and an inability to sleep at night.

Not sleeping is a serious physical health concern. Getting fewer than your recommended seven to nine hours is enough to increase your risk of stroke, asthma, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. It also makes it harder to concentrate during the day, which can lead to injuries like those sustained during car accidents. Clearly, insomnia is a real physical threat and does more than make you feel drowsy. This is just one more answer to the question ‘how does mental health affect physical health?’.

If you work on improving your mood and becoming happier, then you’ll sleep more soundly. Your anxious thoughts won’t keep you awake at night and you’ll get the full amount of sleep that you need to function properly. This lowers the risk of you developing serious medical conditions and helps your body work at its full capacity.

Supplements for Mental Wellness

Supplements are often used as a way to increase physical health. They contain many of the essential nutrients that might be lacking from your body, helping your cells to get what they need to function properly. This can, of course, improve your mental health as a consequence. However, have you ever considered using supplements in order to directly improve your mood, which in turn will lead to a boost in physical fitness?

Given what’s been explained above, it’s clear that working on your emotional and mental wellbeing really can improve your physical health levels. That’s why it’s worth choosing supplements that can boost your mood and enjoy the physical knock-on effects this can have. If you’re looking for the ideal supplement to achieve this, then try Neubria Shine.

Specifically designed to improve mood, Neubria Shine is packed with ingredients that are linked to positive emotional states. Turmeric extract improves memory and focus while those who take it long-term report higher levels of calmness and contentedness. Rhodiola Rosea can help alleviate depression by helping you overcome fatigue, especially when combined with saffron. Research also suggests that it can lower anxiety, stress, and confusion. Ashwagandha root extract also lowers stress levels and citicoline is a dopamine booster, one of the brain’s essential happiness neurotransmitters.

The link between the mind and the body is being studied all the time but the causal connection cannot be denied. You may have always known that physical health boosts happiness but have you ever asked ‘how does mental health affect physical health’? There’s so much research out there and plenty more to learn. Hopefully, though, you now realise that taking mood-boosting supplements and other steps to become happier can have a real physical effect on your body. By practising wellness, you can help your body to become strong, fit, and healthy.