The surprising connection between physical and mental health

By Daja Long

Joseph Matthews, second-year bioengineering major, likes to alleviate stress by playing basketball or piano.

“I know that my mental health and physical health are connected due to how much working out and doing other healthy things helps me feel better mentally about myself,” Matthews said.

The winter season brings colder temperatures, drier air and a new semester for college students, creating an environment and opportunity for respiratory illnesses to easily spread.

Alyssa Francois, freshman public-health major, doesn’t always feel like herself during the winter term.

“I usually feel ill during the colder months which causes my bones to ache. I then become more easily stressed and this affects my grades,” Francois said.

Students like Francois or Matthews may become stressed if they notice their physical health declines.

Christi Navarro, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health, said physical health issues can impact a person’s mental health, and vice versa.

“Having a negative mood is associated with higher levels of things like inflammation, and then overall feeling ill, which for some people could be respiratory symptoms or bloating or just some sort of immune response that your body gets,” Navarro said.

Aya Shigeto, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, said mental health issues that individuals might experience daily, such as anxiety or depression, can be associated with a stressful lifestyle.

“It is safer to say that depression is associated with events that have happened already,” Shigeto said. “This can be in the form of ruminative thinking. You think about the same thing repeatedly, but there is nothing you can do about it, because it already happened. Then, you ruminate over this negative aspect of it and when you do that, you obviously feel sad.”

Compared to depression, Shigeto explained how anxiety relates more to worrying about the future.

“Anxiety tends to come from things such as low self-esteem, or low self-efficacy,” Shigeto said. “You worry whether you can cope with the stress or not, which has not come yet. This is maybe because you do not believe in your ability to cope with it or maybe because it was not successful in the past, you tend to respond to stress that way.”

Certain lifestyle changes and habits can directly help boost immunity, but these same emotion-focused coping mechanisms can potentially alleviate stress and other mental issues.

Jennifer Maizel, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health, said prioritizing mental health can improve physical health.

“Things like meditation, going to psychotherapy [if needed], journaling and having a social support system are going to be helpful to you,” Maizel said. “Trying to find a social support system can be hard for some people. But try to reach out to other students on campus, try to reach out to any other resources here or at home that you can leverage to get some kind of support.”

For more information:

NSU offers services and counseling through the Center For

Student Counseling And Well-Being By Henderson Behavioral Health.

Contact:

Office: 954 – 424 – 6911

Fax: 954 – 424 – 6915

Hotline: 954 – 424 – 6911

(available 24 hours, 7 days a week)

Location:

3300 S. University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL,

33328-2004

Student Affairs Building, 3rd Floor

Davie, FL 33314