Our minds and bodies are connected in many complex ways, yet when you hear about the mind-body connection, it’s often in the context of how the mind affects the body. But what about how the body affects the mind?
What you do with your physical body – whether you exercise, what you eat, how much you sleep, even whether you spend time in the sunshine – can profoundly impact your mental state, both negatively and positively.
Being in constant pain or experiencing chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, can affect your emotions and increase the likelihood of developing a mental health condition.1 Those with chronic medical conditions as well as those who experience stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, are at a higher risk for depression.2 In fact, nearly one in three people with a long-term physical health condition also have a mental health issue, like depression or anxiety.3
Physical symptoms or experiences can influence how we feel, what we think, and what we do – sometimes in ways that are less obvious. Research has shown that extreme heat, for example, can impact mental health by increasing the risk of depression and causing irritability, which can result in an increase in aggression.4 Conversely, cold exposure may elicit positive mental health effects. One specific case study of a 24-year-old woman with lifelong anxiety and depression found that swimming in open (cold) water led to an immediate improvement in mood after each swim. The weekly swimming led to a gradual reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety. The woman was also able to eventually cease the use of prescription medications and remained medication-free during follow-up a year later.5
There are other positive mental health effects that you can experience through physical habits or by changing your environment. For example, exercise can reduce anxiety, boost mood, and even help with sleep patterns, and sun exposure helps release the mood-boosting hormone serotonin.
Change Your Environment, Change Your Health
Your environment – the food you eat, your lifestyle, and your daily habits – is a primary determinant of your mental health. Yet much of the discussion around mental health focuses on genes, attributing things like depression and anxiety to being products solely of genetic or chemical forces. While this can be true in some circumstances, your mental health relies on more than just your genetic makeup. If you limit your thinking about mental health to being part of genetic destiny, you miss opportunities to take back control over aspects of your health. Read on to explore how you can empower yourself and work to improve mental health via physical health activities.
Nutrition
What we eat affects our physical and mental health. Eating approaches high in fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood, and unprocessed grains and lower in lean meats and dairy can give you more energy and help you sleep better. They can also help reduce stress and anxiety and control depression. Eating approaches high in refined sugars, on the other hand, have been connected to impaired brain function as well as the onset, severity, and duration of depression.6
Chronic Inflammation
Depression and other mental health issues have been associated with increased inflammation. While inflammation is not a single cause of depression, it’s a common factor for and may contribute to the progression of many psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mania.7
Gut Health
A healthy gut helps with more than just digestion. Approximately 90% of serotonin is actually made in your gut; what goes on in your gut can also affect your emotions and mental health.8 Gut dysbiosis (an imbalance of the number and diversity of your gut microorganisms) and gut inflammation have been linked to both anxiety and depression. Healthy gut function influences the normal functioning of the central nervous system (CNS), and dysbiosis has been shown to influence CNS disorders, including schizophrenia and autism.9
Sleep
Sleep helps your entire body, including your brain, recharge. Your brain activity fluctuates during the different stages of the sleep cycle, depending on which stage it's in. But each stage plays an important role in brain health, supporting learning, memory, and thinking. If you’re not sleeping well, your brain is not able to complete the stages of the sleep cycle, which can be harmful to mental health. Sleep problems can cause mood swings and increase the risk for negative thinking as well as the development ofsome psychiatric disorders, including ADHD, anxiety, and depression.10
Exercise
Physical movement and exercise help prevent several health issues, including depression and anxiety. Exercise helps the brain produce and release endorphins that make you feel good. It can also improve strength and encourage weight loss, which can build confidence and self-esteem, and help you be more social – all of which can improve your mood and well-being.11
Sunlight
Vitamin D and sunlight offer many restorative effects. Your body produces vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight. People with lower levels of vitamin D maybe at higher risk for a range of diseases, including schizophrenia, depression, and other mental health issues.11 Beyond that, sunlight is thought to help serotonin and melatonin, which are associated with cognitive function and mood improvement.12
REMEMBER Multidimensional Health
It can be easy to overlook the role physical health plays on your mental health. But it’s important to see that they are unified, not separate functions. Understanding that you are a multidimensional being and every aspect of your health affects every other aspect can help you achieve the health and happiness you desire.
FOOTNOTES 1| Turner, J., & Kelly, B. (2000). Emotional dimensions of chronic disease. West J Med172(2), 124–128. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10707732| National Institute of Mental Health. (2021). Chronic illness and mental health:Recognizing and treating depression. Retrieved from nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/chronic-illness-mental-health3| Mental Health Foundation. (2021). Physical health and mental health. Retrieved from mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/physical-health-and-mental-health4| American Psychiatric Association. (2021). Extreme heat contributes to worsening mental health, especially among vulnerable populations. Retrieved from psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/extreme-heat-contributes-to-worsening-mental-health-especially-among-vulnerable-populations5| van Tulleken, C., Tipton, M., Massey, H., & Harper, C. M. (2018). Open water swimming as a treatment for major depressive disorder. BMJ Case Rep 2018 ,bcr2018225007. Retrieved from doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2018-2250076| Selhub, E. (2020). Nutritional psychiatry: Your brain on food. Harvard HealthPublishing. Retrieved from health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-2015111686267| Firth, J., Veronese, N., Cotter, J., Shivappa, N., Hebert, J. R., & Ee, C., Smith,L., Stubbs, B., Jackson, S. E., & Sarris, J. (2019). What is the role of dietary inflammation in severe mental illness? A review of observational and experimental findings. Front Psychiatry 10, 350. Retrieved from doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.003508| Carpenter, S. (2012). That gut feeling. American Psychological Association.Retrieved from apa.org/monitor/2012/09/gut-feeling 9| Harvard Health Publishing. (2021). Sleep and mental health. Retrieved fromhealth.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health10| Sharma, A., Madaan, V., & Petty, F. D. (2006). Exercise for mental health. PrimCare Companion J Clin Psychiatry 8(2), 106. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC147065811| Dursun, S. (2010). Vitamin D for mental health and cognition. CMAJ 182(17), 1886.Retrieved from doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.110-212512| Kent, S. T., McClure, L. A., Crosson, W. L., Arnett, D. K., Wadley, V. G., &Sathiakumar, N. (2009). Effect of sunlight exposure on cognitive function among depressed and non-depressed participants: A REGARDS cross-sectional study. Environ Health 8, 34. Retrieved from doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-8-34
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