Untreated mental illness can impact physical wellbeing – recognise the warning signs

October is Mental Health Awareness Month and the ideal opportunity to reinforce the message that looking after your mind is just as important as looking after your body.

Neglecting your mental health can impact your physical wellbeing and your quality of your life, compounding existing physical health issues and creating new ones, says community health organisation, Rhiza Babuyile.

Physical changes should raise mental health red flags

Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression are often regarded as invisible diseases, but experts warn that physical changes to the body may indicate untreated or undetected mental health issues.

Psychiatrists and GPs working with Rhiza Babuyile report that they have seen numerous cases of this in patients in their communities and clinics across the country.

“Mental illness is not ‘all in the mind’. Rather, it is a physical manifestation of neurological and chemical imbalances. There are many ways the body warns you that your brain or central nervous system is in distress and needs your attention,” says Katlego Assis, Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) and Projects Manager at Rhiza Babuyile.

One of the most common signs of acute mental illness is a drastic change in blood pressure or blood sugar levels.

This highlights how checking on and maintaining your mental health is just as critical as keeping up with good physical health practices, they eventually affect one another and are closely interlinked.

Mental illness can cause disability

While it seems like more and more people are suffering from depression and anxiety, especially post the pandemic, the issue goes far deeper than these two categories.

There many common mental disorders, some of which have more severe effects on quality of life than others. And many sufferers do not receive as much attention as those with less stigmatised conditions.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mental disorders are the leading cause of disability. Not everyone with a mental illness is disabled, but some illnesses can become so severe, they cause people to become disabled.

Mentally ill people have been known to spend one in six years living with disability because of a mental illness.

Disability as a result of mental illness can also shorten your lifespan, with people suffering from severe mental health conditions dying on average 10 to 20 years earlier than the general population, mostly due to preventable physical diseases.

Mental illness sufferers are not alone

Various environmental factors such as financial stress, substance abuse or traumatic events can trigger people who are genetically predisposed to mental disorders.

The stress, suffering, tragedy and illness experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant anxiety and depression, triggering otherwise healthy people into mental distress and often exacerbating existing mental health conditions.

According to the WHO, depression and anxiety diagnoses increased by more than 25% in the first year of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, nearly a billion people were living with a mental disorder, this figure includes 14% of the world’s adolescents. Suicide accounted for more than 1 in 100 deaths and 58% of suicides occurred before age 50.

Manage, alleviate and prevente mental illness

Much of the suffering that comes with mental illness can be managed, alleviated and even prevented.

Regular health checks, paying attention to your body and getting professional help are important to maintain a healthy body and mind.

The mind is part of the body after all, its wellness requires daily attention and self-love too.

If you are suffering from mental illness and need help, contact a counsellor from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group Between 8am-8pm Monday to Sunday by calling 011 234 4837 or the 24-hour helpline on 0800 456 789. For a suicidal emergency, contact 0800 567 567.

Author: Pedro van Gaalen

When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.

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