Mental Health Isn’t Made Only in the Mind

Gut imbalances can affect mood.

Source: Hello Aesthe/Pexels

This article is a collaboration with Ana Stauch, nurse practitioner and owner of A New Way Healthcare in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

Our body is not made up of disconnected parts. When a client seeks help working through emotional distress, we certainly need to acknowledge that the body that houses us is telling us something about our mental state, but we can and should look beyond our head.

We need to establish what the whole body is doing if we want to improve how we are thinking and feeling in our minds.

The Mind-Body Connection

The idea that the body and mind are connected is not new, but recent research is exploding with clinical findings that can now scientifically back these claims.

For instance, in a study conducted in the United States, González and Tarraf (2013) discovered that of middle-age and older adults who met the criteria for a major depressive disorder, two-thirds reported cardiovascular disease as well, suggesting a connection between depression and coronary disease.

What Can We Do?

We can ask what came first, the chicken or the egg, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that evidence-backed findings are coming out in droves confirming that our bodies and minds are reflecting and impacting each other. The real question is, what do we do? How do we use this knowledge to impact our choices and our treatments?

As a mental health therapist, I work with my clients on their cognitive processes, their traumas, and their emotional wounds, but that is not enough if we want whole-person health.

A Nurse Practitioner’s Experience

Ana Stauch, a nurse practitioner who owns A New Way Healthcare in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, sees the physical effects of unbalanced health firsthand in her practice. She notes that many people come to her with complaints of anxiety, depression, irritability, and other mood issues. She explains that typically all of these are symptoms of a larger problem.

Thyroid dysfunction, adrenal issues (that’s high or low cortisol), and estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone imbalance are all common causes of mood issues. But one of the biggest sources her practice addresses is gut health—90 percent of our serotonin is made in the gut. So any kind of gut imbalance can often affect a person’s mood.

Things like heartburn/reflux, frequent gas and bloating, diarrhea, and constipation are not normal and often indicate a problem with gut inflammation, a stomach acid issue, or (almost always) an imbalance in the gut microbiome…the billions of microbes that live in our gut and have a lot to do with our health and well-being.

Taking the time to really assess a person and investigate all the different body systems is vital to understanding the root cause behind the symptoms. Many times, a simple change in diet, lifestyle, sleep, or environment can make a world of difference in mood and energy, not to mention reducing the risk of future disease.

Turning Knowledge Into Change

As individuals in charge of our own health, how does this knowledge empower us to take steps toward healthier whole-body change? Let’s look at what we can do:

Get a mental and physical baseline.

• Set up an appointment with a practitioner who respects the research on whole-body health and listens to you. (For women, this can be especially hard to find, but stay the course.)
• Set up an appointment with a mental health therapist who respects the research on whole-body health and can work with your physical health practitioner to make your treatment as efficient and effective as possible.

Reflect on your habits.

• Explore what you’re doing that is serving you well and what isn’t.
• Consider whether those you surround yourself with are helping you reach your goals.

Find structure and support.

• Seek out accountability partners, whether family or friends, in-person or online.

Take action.

• Does your sleep schedule need work? Seek resources and tools to meet your goals.
• Does your diet or substance use require reflection? Talk to the professional team (that you’ve now established) about how to respond to these areas of your life.
• Does your movement need improvement? Seek resources and help in finding how fitness fits into your life.

We have only one body and one life, and we are the caretaker. Let’s take care of it.