Nature Of The Relationship Between Physical AND Mental Health Essay

Physical health is the observable part of well-being of human’s body, and it relates to individuals mental perspectives. It is because if a person has mental difficulties it will definitely lead to physical problems. Physical health of an individual is associated with some parameters that act as its symptoms, and they include; social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and environmental health. In most cases, they are cured by engaging in physical activities which brings about well-being of an individual. On the other hand mental health is directly linked to some infections that are caused by physical health parameters such as obesity. Individuals with mental health are likely to have poor physical health for example; depression is associated with coronary heart disease, diabetes and blood pressure. Physical health depends on some aspects which if not controlled they may lead to severe diseases. They include; physical activities individual nutrition schedule, drugs and substance abuse, rest and sleep (Schiff, 1967). Those factors are associated with personal health because if are not put into consideration they may lead to infections that will automatically initiate depression.
Mental and physical health is associated because it takes one to cure the other. It has been evident in many situations whereby doctors’ advice their mental patients to engage in physical activities for well- being of their body. It is mostly associated with a depressed individual who should keep themselves busy all the time in order to recover. If a patient does not engage in such activities, he or she may be infected with some physically related infections such as diabetes and coronary heart diseases. It clearly shows how that physical health contributes largely to mental suffering of individuals (Levenson, & Gottman, 1985).
Chronic physical infections automatically lead to psychological distress because the patient does not feel comfortable, and they take much of their time thinking. It is an aspect that is not associated with healthy people, and it initiates a lot of stress to affected ones. Depression will come up because the patient will be thinking about one and the same thing. It is also contributed to social problems which an individual encounters in his interactive context.
Both mental and physical infections are initiated by common factors for example; family and romantic relationship. These two factors contribute to mental infections because the affected individual will have to be stressed by the things that will be happening in his social context. Family issues have been considered as one of the main cause of physical infections for example stroke because of the fact emotional circumstance is evident. This situation must be controlled in all family in order to ensure that physical infections are controlled effectively. It is because when the environment is in the emotional mood, depression will be evident which can initiate heart diseases.
Depression has negative impacts on the humans because it initiates physical infections. It is because it is linked with some infections such as coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke back pain, and diabetes and back pains. It has led to many people dying because these diseases are dangerous and if not controlled in the early stages. It is a condition that should be taken into consideration upon in order to ensure those cases are not evident. These are factors to be considered in order to control effectively this kind of infections (Berry & Worthington, 2001).
It is impossible to separate our physical state from our mental state as they both go hand in hand this is so because in comparison people who have depression or suffer from depression have worse physical health compared to those who are not suffering from depression. People who are going through depression will mostly deprive themselves social interactions among other things which leads to physical health issues like heart diseases. Mental and physical health have a mutual relationship where they both go hand in hand, this is so because when one suffers from mental illnesses their physical health will be affected and when suffers from a physical illnesses like heart diseases or stroke among others so is their mental health affected.
People who suffer from most chronic diseases are more likely to experience psychological distress when compared to a healthy population with depression also being associated with causing some chronic illness like blood pressure and heart diseases. There is evidence that either can cause the other and hence in ensuring that this does not occur it is very important to adopt a healthy living style. A healthy individual is considered to be one who is in a complete state of mind with their physical, mental and social stated being with no disease at all. Health has been commonly associated with the physic with a total ignorance of the social and mental contexts that go hand in hand, without the understanding of them all it would be impossible to cure either of them and hence there is a need to understand this symbiotic relationship. Poor mental and physical health cannot meet the demand of our day to day lives which creates a strain in the healthy wellbeing of the society and community at large. When one suffers from depression or mental breakdowns, their physical health is affected along with the capability to meet their personal responsibility. It is significant for persons to comprehend that being healthy doesn’t mean being free from diseases, but unfortunately more than the perceived concept (Levenson, & Gottman, 1985).
In the journey of seeking our physical health, it is very important to understand that the steps taken can also affect our mental wellbeing as well. It means that the medication and hours of surgery that one goes through to meet their physical health could have adverse effects on our psychological and social health. Medications which are often prescribed by doctors are associated with both direct and indirect effects on our mental health, with the most direct effects being depression, irritation, a lot of anxiety that leads to a decrease on how we pay attention and in severe cases affecting the memory. Some medications also alter our sleeping patterns which also affects normal functioning in our day to day lives, and this could cause mental distress and eventually mental illnesses. Also undergoing surgery that is mostly used to treat the highly sensitive chronic diseases such as cancer and heart diseases could also cause disruptions in our mental wellbeing. Physically the removal of some organs in the body leads to a failure in normal functioning that later leads to psychological health issues that have become a common occurrence today.
Physical interventions affect our psychological health and so do mental illnesses affect our physical wellbeing, some medications have been associated with obesity that is also widely known for causing depression for people who suffer from it experience low self-esteem that affects their social life and interactions. The low self-esteem issues make one feel unaccepted and unwanted and feel that seclusion from the social environment is the way out (Gates, 1924). When one becomes secluded, it is highly likely they will become depressed and in severe cases some people have also committed suicide. Obesity also causes diabetes, high blood pressure and even heart diseases and heart failure which could also lead to death. Some physical health issues like obesity, in this case, lead to even more complex mental and physical illness that affect the normal functioning in the social environment.
In some cases, our physical health and wellbeing can lead to alteration of our appearances mostly when one undergoes surgery. This leads to the alienation of the patients from social activities and the feelings of their unworthiness will kick in soon after, they suffer from emotional grief and breakdown while other experience many altered and misplaced feelings about their physical appearance and image leading to a depressed state of mind. Persons who undergo depression restrict themselves from their current lifestyles and the activities they previously involved themselves in the social context of sports and occasional gathering with friends and family because they feel they may not be attractive anymore to be seen in public hence their self-induced isolation and a degradation in their physical health and wellbeing.
Mental and physical health if not attended to cause a lot of suffering and strain on the individuals life and also negatively affects both their family members and their immediate friends not to mention their work or careers. Our lifestyles could be a source of the physical and mental illnesses but could also be the single most important factor in dealing or with the mental and physical illnesses. Sleep and physical activities help reduce the chances of suffering from depression. One cannot distinct the soul from the mind as it is a dual relationship with one supporting the other and affecting either both negatively and positively. The reality of human organization shows that there is a unity between the body and the mind and an alteration in one leads to an alteration in the other (Berry & Worthington, 2001). Patients who are today treated as suffering from mental illnesses may not have any mental disorders but may be suffering from undiagnosed diseases like brain tumors, other infectious diseases, side effects of medications or even neurologic complications or alcohol intoxication and use of drugs which may appear to have symptoms of clinical depression among other diseases. It shows that their physical well-being affect their emotional states that can be mistaken for mental illness.
Abnormalities in the mental the medical state could alter the order of thoughts and emotions while the altered emotions and thoughts in return alter the mental wellbeing of an individual. Depression is also associated with the positive and negative relationship in marriage which contributes to the mental health of the married partners. Most depression cases are as a result of family relations and marriages. The structure of a marriage especially for young couples who are young parents and are still experiencing a lot of financial strains could cause problems in the relationship which have great impacts on the causes of depression (Horwitz, McLaughlin, & White, 1997). In a supportive relationship, however, the partners are less likely to suffer from depression and the later physical illnesses that come along with it. A happy marriage needs financial sustainability and a lot of support from either partner that leads to a healthy lifestyle and a positive effect on the mental health of the spouses.
In conclusion, depression, and other mental illnesses leads to disability in the normal functioning of an individual that affect the quality of life despite their age, occupation and marital status that later translates into physical illnesses. A treatment of depression does not only improve the quality of life but also ensure the physical well-being of a person towards achieving a healthy lifestyle. Depression in aging population leads to suffering of many more chronic diseases, and the vice visa is also true. The aging population is associated with many chronic diseases and a failure in many organs explaining the large population of the aged people found in mental institutions. Caring for the aged by the caregivers and accessional therapeutic sessions could decrease the rate of depression among them (Pinquart & Schiller, 2003). The caregivers should understand this need, and it should come to their attention that once the mental state of the elderly is healthy so will be their physical state.

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