Effects of Emotional Health on the Body
In this era of perfection, we constantly push ourselves to achieve the perfect pictures, perfect relationships, perfect life and the perfect body too. And to get that well toned physique as well as to maintain a perfect health we spend our valuable money and time on the gyms and frequent visits to the doctor. Constant blood tests, dentist visits and getting the required vaccination shots, physical health is something we’ve always been conscious of. But what about the emotional health? Does it get equal importance too? Do we have mental health awareness?
What Is Emotional Health?
The ability to decipher emotions as well as express them in a positive way is what emotional health is all about. Now, don’t go on thinking that since you feel anger, guilt and a lot of negative emotions that you are not emotionally well. Emotional wellness is about accepting an emotion rather than suppressing it, regardless of whether it is anger or happiness.
Does Emotional Health Affect Our Body?
Yes, it does. Emotional health has the power to affect our body in both a good and a bad way. They deal with energy, boosting you up when you’re happy, or sucking up every good vibe, leaving you drained when you’re sad. You are the only one who can make the choice between getting boosted up or to be drained down.
Positive Mind = Healthy You
A person can bounce back from something as big as a death of a loved one or be defeated by something as small as some few harsh words. This bouncing back is what we call emotional resilience. It is similar to elastic, no matter how much it is stretched; it will always come back to its initial shape. That is how resilience works, no matter what problems life may throw at you, you will always deal with it and hopefully come back to how you were before it hit you. People, who have achieved good emotional balance in their lives, become resilient.
But mind and body are two distinct things, so how can they have interconnectedness that lets emotions affect our physical health?
You may have noticed that when we are happy or doing something we enjoy, like running or maybe even reading a book, there’s this moment when every problem, just fades away, even if for a moment, and we experience that moment of bliss, a sense of euphoria. That bliss is what we call D.O.S.E (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin) of happiness. These pleasure hormones are released in our body and they are a vaccination shot against stress, anxiety, depression as well as health problems such as migraines, stomach aches, high or low blood pressure and even diabetes. Positive emotions are the answers to most of the physical illnesses.
So now you know, one D.O.S.E a day keeps a doctor away.
Negative Mind = Unhealthy You
Do you know that almost 70% of our physical health problems are caused due to an unbalanced emotional state? A deteriorating emotional health will always contribute to physical illness. It should be seen as a sign that ignoring mental/ emotional issues won’t make them go away, those issues will try to gain your attention in others ways.
If you have ever experienced some kind of physical illness that the doctor could not diagnose or tell you the cause then it is a sign that that illness is caused due to some suppressed mental issue. For example- It could be something like unexplained migraines to hypertension or even low blood pressure that maybe was caused due to death of a loved one, when you lost a job or a messy breakup.
This happened because you compartmentalized those problems, locked them in a box, and pushed it to the back of the mind to be dealt with later on. But out of sight does not mean out of mind. Those problems are still there, waiting for you to let them out and acknowledge them. And as long as you keep on postponing it, they are going to show themselves in other ways, mainly through physical illnesses.
The best way to kick them to the curb is not by ignoring them but by letting them run their course. I will be honest; it is not an easy task to deal with grief, sadness and guilt. They suck everything out of you. Some days you may not even be able to get out of bed, but that’s okay, that is a part of accepting those emotions.
The best thing you can do at a time like this is to just go with the flow, and know that this is just a phase and it will pass.
Every person has something they are passionate about. That passion is our emotions, expressing themselves in a constructive way. It could be the beat in your heart, the rhythm of your body, the colours in your soul or the words in your mind. Intense emotions are always the muse to your passion. Emotions create beauty, they make life worth living.
As long you listen to your mind and body, the bridge between them will remain strong and sturdy and you mind will act as a warrior to fight against illnesses.
Therefore, emotional wellness is the strength to not be afraid of emotion but to face them head on.
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