Not Just Physical

Good physical health is important. It is also very important to have good psychological health to defray the various physical problems that can stem from psychological issues. In certain cases, the psychological may need to be addressed for the physical symptoms to be eliminated. Mental status is a process that takes hours, days and often months of analyzing why an individuals brain responds the way they do. Until ghosts of the past or stress is chipped away and exposed, many people go through life in a state of denial, anxiety or unsatisfactory existence, constantly searching for the balance in their lives. Most likely, all that person needs is a release and a feeling of freedom. This sounds simple, but is usually a very complicated process.

Many of you have probably experienced stress, trauma or tragedy in your life. Reflecting on that time, weakened physical health may have occurred simultaneously. Did you start overeating which caused weight gain? Did depression set in and enthusiasm disappear? Did you experience exhaustion and not want to get out of bed? Become irritable, short-tempered or lose focus on the future? Did you have a heart attack, increase in blood pressure, or increase in substance abuse? Psychologists have determined that hardiness and resiliency levels determine how a person responds to life changes and whether they can easily overcome the adversity.

Over the past decade there has been larger, worldly issues that create stress, depression, and anxiety - the war, fear of attacks in the U.S., and a large number of natural disasters. It is difficult for people to be resilient when their home has been destroyed by water, an earthquake, or a family member dies in the war. These all add to the growing psychological problems in the country.

According to the American Psychological Association, "trauma disorders are a common and costly problem in the United States. An estimated 5.2 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or approximately 3.6 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). In 1990, anxiety disorders cost the U.S. an estimated $46.6 billion. Untreated PTSD from any trauma is unlikely to disappear and can contribute to chronic pain, depression, drug and alcohol abuse and sleep problems that impede a person's ability to work and interact with others."

This growing need for solutions to psychological health will also affect a population physically. People can currently address their psychological problems more openly because of increased acceptance in the past few decades. And helping a person's psychological health will also help their physical problems, too.