The relationship between mental health and physical health

Mental health and physical health are never "two lines" that are independent of each other, nor are they subordinate to each other, but are a binding system with two-way influence, symbiosis and mutual loss - if there is a psychological problem, the body will light up sooner or later.； It is difficult to maintain a stable mental state when the body has been ill for a long time. No one can "get better" alone without the other party.

During the two years I was stationed at a community psychological service station, I met too many patients who could not find any problems after going to the internal medicine department. The one that impressed me most was a 42-year-old back-end programmer who suffered from insomnia for three consecutive months. His systolic blood pressure fluctuated around 150 every day, and he couldn't control his blood pressure after taking three types of antihypertensive drugs. Finally, a cardiologist recommended that he seek psychological counseling. After chatting for three times, he relented and said that the team had laid off three people, and he was carrying the workload of the original four people alone. He was afraid that he would also be optimized, so he didn't even dare to tell his wife, so he held it in for half a year. Later, he was given four weeks of cognitive behavioral conditioning, and he was required to walk around the park for half an hour every day after get off work. He did not need to do any deliberate exercise, just bask in the sun and blow in the air. As a result, he did not change his antihypertensive medication. Within a month, his blood pressure stabilized at around 130, and his insomnia was mostly cured.

Twenty years ago, this situation would most likely have been dismissed as "I'm just too nervous, just relax." To put it bluntly, the mainstream biomedical school at that time did not fully recognize the actual impact of psychological factors on physical symptoms. They believed that all physical discomforts could have organic causes, and if you couldn't find out, you were "hypocritical." It was not until the subdivided field of mind-body medicine slowly developed that everyone gradually accepted: Oh, it turns out that psychological state can really be reflected in physiological indicators. Don't think this is "metaphysics". There is now clear physiological research support: when you are in negative emotions such as anxiety and depression for a long time, the human body's hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (which is what we often call the HPA axis) will always be in a state of high excitement. You can understand it as "stress" on the body. "Regulator" normally activates when something happens and returns to its original position when something happens. However, if you worry about things every day and cannot sleep well, it will always be stuck in the "high speed" gear and secrete too much cortisol. Over time, blood pressure, blood sugar, and immunity will be messed up, and it will even damage the hippocampus and affect memory.

To be honest, I used to think that "body and mind integration" was a gimmick made up by psychological counselors to boost business. Until last year, I worked on a project for a month straight. I was anxious until 3 a.m. every day and still changing plans. First, I developed four oral ulcers in my mouth, which even hurt when I drank porridge. Then I had a cold that lingered for 20 days and could not be cured. I went to the hospital for a blood test and found that the white blood cells were almost half the normal value. The doctor said that long-term stress has caused the immunity to collapse. If I continue to endure it, there may be something wrong. Later, I forced myself to turn off the computer regardless of whether the project was completed or not, walk around the river for forty minutes after work, and go hiking in the suburbs on weekends. In less than two weeks, the ulcer disappeared and the cold was completely cured. Only then did I really believe it: It turns out that your body is more honest than you. It helps you remember all your unspoken stress and unvented emotions, and will send you an alarm when it accumulates to a certain level.

Interestingly, different schools of psychology have completely different interpretations of the relationship between the two: The school of psychoanalysis believes that many somatic symptoms whose causes cannot be found are subconscious "signs for help." For example, many children have stomachaches and fevers as soon as they take exams, and no problems are found when they go to the hospital. In fact, they subconsciously do not dare to face exams and use physical pain to help themselves "reasonably escape"”； The school of positive psychology is more biased towards positive guidance, believing that stable positive emotions can directly enhance immunity. Harvard’s adult development study that lasted for more than 80 years confirmed that people who are more satisfied with life at the age of 50 are 57% less likely to suffer from chronic diseases at the age of 75 than people with low satisfaction at the same time.

But having said that, don’t go to the other extreme and think that “as long as you have a good attitude, you can cure all diseases.” I met a young man before who suffered from chronic gastritis. After watching short videos, he said that stomach problems are all "emotional diseases". He meditated at home every day to regulate himself and refused to take the medicine prescribed by the doctor to kill Helicobacter pylori. As a result, he was admitted to the hospital for gastric bleeding, which made it even more serious. Nowadays, many people like to attribute all physical problems to "you just think too much." In fact, this is completely wrong: psychological factors are important variables that affect physical health, but they are definitely not the only variables. If there is a real problem with the body, the first thing must be to go to the hospital to investigate the organic cause, take medicine when necessary, and treat when necessary. Psychological adjustment can only be used as an auxiliary, not an antidote.

A few months ago, I went to a cancer hospital to provide group counseling to patients. There was a 60-year-old aunt who impressed me deeply. When she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, the whole family was panicked. She danced square dances with friends, and later took the initiative to create a group of patients, where she shared her handicrafts and flowers every day. During the review, her nodules disappeared twice as fast as those of her patients who were diagnosed at the same time and cried at home every day. Even the attending doctor was surprised. You see, when your body is suffering, a good attitude is really the best "auxiliary medicine".

In fact, there is no need to regard "maintaining mental health" as a particularly difficult task. You don't have to force yourself to "be positive" every day. You don't have to cry when you emo occasionally. When you are stressed, you can complain to your friends. Eat a good meal and don't hold everything in your heart. After all, the emotions you save will most likely turn into physical nodules, migraines, and high blood pressure in the end. In the final analysis, taking good care of your emotions is helping to reduce the burden on your body. In turn, if you eat regularly, sleep well, and don’t stay up late every day to build your own body, your emotions will not be much worse - they are originally things that grow in the same person, so why do you and I have to separate them?