Misbah Ali

Undoubtedly, one of the most crucial lessons taught by the COVID-19 is not to take health for granted. The pandemic has created a scenario where focusing on well-being is no longer optional, it needs to be worked on a constant basis.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being; it emphasises that “there is no health without mental health.”

Experts across the globe believe that there is a fundamental link between mental and physical health.

“There are multiple associations between mental health and chronic physical conditions that significantly impact people’s quality of life. Poor mental health is a risk factor for chronic physical conditions. People with serious mental health conditions are at high risk of experiencing chronic physical conditions. People with chronic physical conditions are at risk of developing poor mental health,” the Canadian Mental Health Association said.

To deeply understand the link between physical and mental health, Drug Today Medical Times (DTMT)’s Misbah Ali exclusively talked to Dr. Om Prakash, Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi, who accentuated that without mental health the overall health is not possible.

While quoting the WHO’s definition of health, Dr. Om Prakash said, “Somewhere there is a myth that mental health is different from physical health, and in reality, it isn’t like that because the body cannot work without the sane mind. So they are an integral part of each other. Everyone is worried about the body but they hardly focus on the mind and that is the problem because most of the body symptoms are directly connected to the mind.”

“If someone is suffering from tuberculosis, the doctors in the session educate them how to manage the stress. Even during the sessions with the cancer patients, doctors focus on the mind, not just the medications, every expert in every field focuses on the mind because they all believe that if a patient is less stressed and has more coping skills then it would become easier for him to get cured. So, they both are an integral part of each other,” Dr. Prakash cited.

“The problem is that if there is some physical health issue then people easily consult the doctors but when it comes to mental health, people are still under the stigma that it should be kept secret, and this is nothing new, it has been going on since centuries. And somewhere our own medical fraternity is trying to segregate between the mental and physical illness, they notice the problem with the mental health in a patient but they never ask the patient to consult an expert for any psychology or psychiatry treatment,” he said.

“So, I think to bring the change doctors should start advising the patients to consult the psychologists rather than saying that take these medicines and you will be fine,” he added.

When asked to suggest ways in which a person can keep the track of mental and physical health at the same time, Dr. Prakash advised, “If a person wants to be mentally and physically healthy then he must follow a healthy lifestyle like having a good diet, exercise regularly, no alcohol consumption, no smoking, sleeping on time, having a social support system, taking out time for leisure activities and hobbies; basically have a satisfaction with the life he is living.”

Describing more about the link he said that if anybody is worried about physical health and starts taking care of it then the mental health automatically improves as both of them are part of the overall health and it is vice-versa.

While talking about what is more beneficial for the peace of mind and calming a person, whether traditional yoga or hardcore gyming, Dr. Prakash said, “Both yoga and exercising are good for health. But the only difference is that yoga doesn’t work for some people and exercise doesn’t work for some. For an instance, if someone asks a person who is a runner to start meditating for peace of mind, it might not work for him. And yoga is not just about the asanas, yoga is a lifestyle so it might not work for all.”

“Both of them will only work when a target has been decided because then the exercises and the asanas vary. If the target is to build up the body for wrestling then the person will not gain peace of mind. The conclusion is that both are helpful only when the target is fixed but one must always keep in mind that excess of anything is not good, yoga and exercise should be followed in an adequate proportion,” he explained.

“It is not just yoga or exercising, but if a person finds the peace of mind in gardening then he should do that. If someone finds peace in going to the temple or while offering namaz then he should do that. It is all about what works for whom,” he added

Answering about the good diet for good mental health, Dr. Prakash said, “I have come across so many posts on social media that that claims that few food items like berries, dark chocolates, wine can help you with the mental health, but my only advice is that just take food on right time in the right quantity and have good sleep.”

Dispelling the myth in the society, he said, “There is no special food item for mental health. I have heard people saying dark chocolate calms anxiety. If a person likes chocolate and he gets to eat it, he will be happy, compared to the person who wants chocolate but only gets to see the other person eat it. All of this is nonsense and a marketing way to sell the product.”