Mental Health vs Physical Health

KAHKASHAN JABEEN
M.A, Psychology
Clinical psychologist
@Islaah Center for Psychological Wellness

Mental health refers to your psychological well-being. It includes the way you feel about yourself, the quality of your relationships and your ability to manage your feelings and deal with difficulties. Whereas physical health means absence of any disease and normal fitness level. Mental and physical health are very closely connected.

Mental health plays a major role in your ability to maintain good physical health. Mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, affect your ability to participate in healthy behavior. This can result in problems with physical health, such as chronic diseases, and can decrease a person’s ability to participate in treatment and recovery.

Issues with mental health can have many different symptoms, just like issues with physical health. Questions can be asked and tests can be done to help assess mental health, same as with physical health.

For physical problems, most people go to the doctor and get a check-up. They have their blood pressure, temperature and weight measured. People get their blood tested to check for issues with cholesterol, blood sugars, thyroid, iron levels, electrolytes and take medications prescribed by medical practitioners to get well and control the levels.

Most people don’t go to a mental health professional for a mental health exam. In a conservative society like ours, going for a mental health check is still considered a taboo. At times in a desperate attempt to get a cure for mental illness, even educated people rely on religious saints.

In many cases, people seek out for a mental health professional only after a crisis has occurred and all other attempts to manage it have been futile. Take some time to ponder, Are you one of those people? And if you are, why take care of one part of your body and not the other?