TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains the topics of depression, anxiety, and weight.
Depression and Anxiety not only affect mental health, but also physical health. Many people who do not struggle with these mental illnesses do not understand that fact. Throughout my life so far, I’ve noticed multiple ways in which depression and anxiety come to life. I’ve also noticed that each person is different.
Depression and anxiety can also affect weight loss/gain. I know for me personally I’ve both lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of weight. In most recent years, I’ve gained more weight because I tend to eat without realizing what I am doing. Food also tends to make me feel happier, especially eating junk food. I could eat healthy all day but at night, when the scary thoughts creep into my head, I can’t stop myself. Depression takes over your will to control many decisions in your own personal life.
Depression can also make you believe that you are physically sick. You have a cold, the flu, something worse. It can also cause you to believe that you are in pain. Stomach problems or bone aches can be a way for your brain to tell you that something is wrong. Your brain will do whatever it takes to tell you it isn’t doing well. I know for me, if I let things go too long without taking a personal day/mental health day, my joints start to hurt, and I feel as though I am coming down with a cold. But without fail, once I take a day off and only do things that make me happy, the next day it’s all gone.
Anxiety also manifests physically. For me personally, anxiety causes my chest to feel as though there is a heavy pressure pushing down on it. Like an elephant is sitting on my chest. Also, on occasion my heart will race because I am unable to calm myself down. Aside from my chest, both anxiety and depression cause me to have racing thoughts. Sometimes, when I am in a darker place, I can’t control how fast my brain is trying to think. I can hear multiple thoughts trying to process themselves at the same time.
Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand, with one comes the other. For more information on these illnesses, I will attach two great websites that may provide techniques on how to effectively cope/combat them. The more we (as a society) discuss mental illness the physical aspects of these illnesses will be easier to talk about with our communities.