How Physical and Mental Health Affects a Person's Growth and Personal Capabilities

How Physical and Mental Health Affects Person's Growth and Personal Capabilities
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How Physical and Mental Health Affects a Person's Growth and Personal Capabilities
Topic Introduction
The CDC (2023) indicates that one's health and wellness depend on various components, including physical and mental health. The mind and body are connected. This implies that when an individual is exposed to chronic complications, their risk of mental conditions increases. Similarly, physical health challenges can be experienced in the case of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses. According to Ma et al. (2021), higher depression risk was recorded among individuals with chronic medical conditions such as stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer diagnosis. People who live with disabilities, for example, often develop depressive disorders, which justifies the connection between the mind and body (Kemp et al., 2022). The concept of mind-body connection entails comprehending that physical health goes beyond the body to include other components, such as the mind, which influences thoughts, emotions, and actions of the physical body. The connection informs the overall human well-being. In this regard, registering desirable mental health can reduce the risk of developing physical health problems and vice versa. People with chronic physical health conditions are prone to mental health challenges. Mental conditions will likely affect sleep patterns and hormonal balance, which invites a range of physical conditions. As such, an individual can experience chronic fatigue, stroke, diabetes, heart complications, and high blood pressure. According to Medic et al. (2017), lack of adequate sleep was tied to an increased prevalence of physical health conditions, ranging from heart disease to obesity. It also includes the risk of psychiatric disorders and a weaker immune system, which implies that the risk of contracting physical conditions increases. This indicates that the mind and body are connected, and any developments in either can affect the other.
Importantly, mental and physical health influence personal and professional growth and development. How an individual functions, including their emotions and behaviors, is shaped by their mental state, which ultimately informs personal growth and development. One's quality of life deteriorates in case their mental health is affected, which further escalates to invite physical conditions because they are connected. They lose self-sufficiency, which can worsen to include low self-esteem, low confidence, and poor decision-making, among other factors that would impede one's success, in fields such as nursing that require a personal commitment to achieving exemplary performance, characterized by patient safety and delivery of quality care. Exhibiting positive physical and mental health can improve personal growth and development. For example, an individual who adopts physical activity is guaranteed considerable prevention of physical health conditions, which further translates to reduced stress and depressive symptoms, among other forms of mental health conditions. Mental health invites better cognitive function, which implies instances of cognitive impairments that impede efficient problem-solving and reasoning, among other factors that attract personal growth, regardless of the industry or field. Good mental health will easily attract better physical health, which translates to energy and resilience to cope with various professional challenges, among other factors. This paper outlines the connection between the body and mind, in this case, physical and mental health, and how they inform personal and professional growth and development.
Literature Review
Evidence suggests that the mind plays a pivotal role in healing and disease prevention, which indicates improved physical health (Brower, 2006). The author alludes that chronic stress, for example, may deprive one's physical health as it invites an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome associated with diabetes and heart complications. Working in stressful conditions with limited autonomy was likely to cause physical health challenges that affected employee performance, especially in low-level jobs. Stress, in the case of Brower (2006), entailed inadequate support even though the job was highly demanding. He adds that heart attacks, among other conditions, were common in cases where one experienced chronic psychological stress, often drawn from socioeconomic status. The author concludes that behavior and emotion, which define mental health, can adversely impact one's physical health. A recent study by Ma et al. (2021) reiterates the above claims indicating that chronic diseases and depression are related. The authors reveal that physical conditions can easily attract depression and pain, which indicates the connection between mental and physical health. Ma et al.'s (2021) findings reveal that patients diagnosed with chronic complications experienced pain, which often escalated to depression. This further establishes the connection between mental health and physical health. It reveals that exposure to physical health challenges will most likely invite pain that develops into mental health challenges.
Patients who receive chronic illness diagnoses are exposed to life-altering situations that invite the risk of mental conditions. It is important to note that most chronic or acute physical health conditions require considerable resources and support to manage. As such, the victims often slowly fade into mental health conditions. According to Su et al. (2020), diabetes is an example of a physical health condition whose severity yields more economic burden. In 2017, for example, the US lost approximately $327 billion on diagnosed diabetes and additional costs resulting from minimized productivity (American Diabetes Association, 2018). As expected, the impact of financial cost is likely to impede both mental and physical health (Gao et al., 2021). The authors allude that out-of-pocket expenses on insulin and other diabetes-related intervention increase yearly, burdening people diagnosed with the conditions. Resultantly, they experience increased exposure to mental challenges, including chronic stress, which can attract a ripple effect since it can invite sleep complications, high blood pressure, and chronic fatigue. Medic et al. (2017) indicate that sleep is important for brain functionality connected with various body systems. As such, sleep disruptions resulting from chronic stress, drawn from the economic burden of a physical health condition, have far-reaching health consequences. In other words, sleep problems can have adverse mental challenges, including cognitive functioning, behavioral problems, emotional distress, and other concerns.
The aforementioned ripple effect occurs when physical health leads to emotional distress and somatic pain, disrupting sleep and resulting in other physical and mental health concerns, including cardiovascular and respiratory complications, metabolic syndrome, mood disorders and depression (Medic et al., 2017). Unlike Medic et al. (2017), Doan et al. (2022) argue that healthy minds live in healthy bodies, further justifying the claim that mind and body or physical and mental health are connected. According to Doan et al. (2022), physical health influences mental health. Just like the aforementioned authors, Doan et al. (2022) indicate that a wide range of factors that invite mental illness, including abuse, family violence, loss of loved ones or employment opportunities, will alter behaviors, such as eating, sleeping, and physical activity patterns. This, in turn, increases the risk of developing physical health complications, which Gao et al. (2021) reveal include pain, heart complications, and high blood pressure. People that register positive mental states are barely exposed to notable physical challenges, including strokes and heart complications (Vazquez et al., 2009; Gao et al., 2021; Hoang et al., 2019). Additionally, people diagnosed with poor mental health are exposed to poor physical health because they can barely embrace behaviors such as physical activity and are prone to substance abuse, which further worsens their physical health. As such, one can conclude that physical and mental health are interrelated.
The connection between mental health and physical health is also justified by Di Marco et al. (2010) and Doan et al. (2022), who argue that depression, for example, plays a causal role in the development of asthma, diabetes, and cancer, among other chronic complications. The authors insist that physical health status deteriorates in case one is exposed to mental health conditions, which ultimately impedes their access to quality healthcare. Apart from the above, Doan et al. (2022) indicate that people with mental health conditions were prone to physical injuries and increased risk of communicable and non-communicable infections. The above findings are reiterated by Jenness et al. (2017), who reveal that mental health and intentional and unintentional physical injuries were connected. Mental illness and injury have a reciprocal association (Shadloo et al., 2016). The impression herein is that a stable mind signals a healthy body, barely exposed to conditions that can attract physical injuries and increase the risk of diseases. Sathyanarayanan and Mehta (2022) indicate that the association between diseases and mental health conditions has been under investigation as early as the 1800s. The authors establish that victims of various pandemics and epidemics were increasingly exposed to a wide range of mental illnesses that further invited infectious diseases. An example is Emil Kraepelin, a renowned psychiatrist in late 1890 who established that people diagnosed with influenza often exhibited multiple mental disorders, including hallucinations, cognitive deterioration, mood disorders, and depressive symptoms.
COVID-19 is a recent pandemic that further reveals the interrelated nature of the mind and body. In that regard, Sathyanarayanan and Mehta (2022) assert that coronavirus diagnosis was likely to increase psychiatric diagnosis incidence. In fact, COVID-19 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, for example, registered higher mortality rates (Nemani et al., 2021). Unlike other authors, Sathyanarayanan and Mehta (2022) indicate the prevalence of environmental risk factors, which hastened exposure to stress that worsened to extreme mental disorders, ultimately increasing genetic vulnerability to physical health conditions. According to Stein et al. (2019), mental illness is an example of non-communicable infections. Their findings reveal the influence of environmental contributors and the susceptibility to mental health conditions. Stein et al. (2019) also find a correlation between most mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia and non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, heart diseases, and cancers. The authors assert that mental disorder was associated with risk factors for non-communicable diseases, which include poor nutrition, disregard for physical exercise, and excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco, among others. Conclusively, they indicate a strong association between mental health and cardiovascular conditions. In this regard, the World Mental Health Surveys reported that prostate and breast cancer attracted depressive spectrum, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders (Caruso et al., 2017; Watts et al., 2014; Arnaboldi et al., 2017). The spillover from the aforementioned findings is that the onset of asthma was prevalent when risk factors such as substance abuse and anxiety disorder were experienced.
Apart from the connection between the mind and body, there is a need to address the adverse impacts of mental and physical health on individual and professional growth and development. Grotan et al. (2019) indicate that mental health is linked with academic self-efficacy. Mental distress significantly affects a learner's academic performance. The authors assert that student life can be stressful because of their emotional, social, and financial challenges. The above challenges often invite mental distress, which is tied to poor academic progress or delayed academic success. Salzer et al. (2012) add that social and academic participation was poor among learners with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Depressive disorder, for example, often impedes cognitive function, ultimately hindering the student's personal growth and development (Grotan et al., 2019; Deng et al., 2022). Evidently, mental health conditions affected their personal growth and development, which easily escalated to professional development since a declining cognitive function, and disregard for social and academic participation, among other factors, impeded their academic commitment, resulting in a poor transition to the professional world. Feiss and Pangelinan (2021) reveal that adolescents will most likely struggle with physical and mental health because of social determinants of health such as poverty and low-income environments. The environment and economic factors can affect physical health, which invites depressive symptoms.
Additionally, since the prevalence of mental distress has a causal role in the rise of physical conditions, including non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the learners mentioned above will likely develop physical conditions. As noted earlier, the risk factors for mental disorders include substance abuse, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet, which increases the risk of physical conditions, including diabetes and cancer (Stein et al., 2019). In this case, one can conclude that when a student suffers from mental distress, the prevalence of physical conditions increases (Doan et al., 2022; Medic et al., 2017; Ma et al., 2021). There is also a need to note that physical health conditions, including diabetes, are tied to poor productivity and performance (American Diabetes Association, 2018). From a professional perspective, the chances of growth and development reduce as one battles their physical conditions, and in the process, they are increasingly at risk of mental health conditions, including stress and depression, which further limits their ability to manage the infections and thrive in their professional practice. Olesen et al. (2013) write that mental health affects future employment. As observed, mental health risk factors can also affect physical conditions (Stein et al., 2019). In this regard, professional growth stagnates since physical conditions attract poor performances, especially when mental illnesses develop, ultimately impeding cognitive functioning and energy levels. One is less likely to embrace social participation that can attract positive professional outcomes, in case they experience mental illness, and will likely develop physical conditions as they are increasingly exposed to risk factors such as substance abuse as coping mechanisms and injuries that impede their commitment and performance in a professional environment. Also, as Breton et al. (2013) allude, loss of productivity can escalate to include absenteeism and inability to meet organizational goals, ultimately resulting in layoffs. For example, mental distress that attracts physical conditions such as diabetes will go beyond economic burden to include absenteeism as one manages the disease (Breton et al., 2013; American Diabetes Association, 2018). This signals the inability to excel and exploit personal and professional growth and opportunities.
Findings and Discussion
Evidently, mental health and physical health are correlated. Exposure to physical health conditions increases the risk of mental health and vice versa. The prevalence of mental health, and risk factors such as physical inactivity and substance abuse, often yielded cardiovascular conditions such as cancer and diabetes. For example, patients diagnosed with prostate and breast cancer often registered more cases of depression and anxiety (Caruso et al., 2017; Watts et al., 2014). A significant percentage of cancer patients were often ...