Experts say mental and physical health are connected — Why do we treat them separately?
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- In their data about mental health, the Centers for Disease Control says, "Mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health." However, the two medical disciplines often treat the body and mind separately.
While an arm and brain require different styles of treatment, some medical professionals believe that complete body treatment is important for recovery from mental conditions with physical symptoms and vice versa.
The CDC believes that mental health is a key aspect of overall health for human beings. Their experts claim that depression increases risk for physical complications -- like heart disease, strokes or diabetes.
And, CDC researchers say that the opposite is also true -- chronic physical conditions can increase risks for mental illness.
With this continual dependence between mental and physical performance, the CDC feels it's important to keep both in good condition -- not neglecting one or the other.
The Mayo Clinic says that physical warning signs for mental health include significantly low energy, sleeping trouble or continually being tired. It can also lead to problems with following conversations or understanding other people -- and can influence things like anger, violence, diet or changes to sex drive.
But many times a physicians office and a psychiatrist's office are not located in the same room. Some practitioners in the Borderland are attempting to treat these two parts of the person at the same time.
Experts in this field feel it is important to manage both the bodily and the mind's symptoms for things such as PTSD, life stress, addiction or diagnosed mental illness.
ABC-7 sat down with Dr. Aghaegbulam Uga, who is a specialist in psychiatry and has a background in internal medicine to discuss the importance of connected treatment.
Avery Martinez covers mental health in the Borderland as part of ABC-7’s Be Mindful initiative. He is also a Report for America corps member. RFA places talented, emerging journalists in newsrooms like ABC-7’s to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up.
