- Your mental health has a profound effect on your overall physical health, experts say.
- Prioritizing mental wellness has been linked to improved cardiovascular health.
- Experts say adequate sleep, regular exercise, getting outdoors, a nutritious diet, and mindfulness are helpful ways to boost your mental well-being.
Your mental health and physical health are intrinsically connected.
The mind and heart are especially interlinked, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The state of your mental health can impact your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions, according to a
“A person’s mind, heart, and body are all interconnected and interdependent in what can be termed ‘the mind-heart-body connection,’” said Glenn N. Levine, MD, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and chair of the writing committee for the AHA statement.
“Research has clearly demonstrated that negative psychological factors, personality traits, and mental health disorders can negatively impact cardiovascular health. On the other hand, studies have found positive psychological attributes are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality,” Levine told Healthline.
According to the AHA, mental health conditions like depression, chronic stress, anxiety, anger, and negativity may contribute to potentially harmful biological responses such as:
- irregular heartbeat or atrial fibrillation (AFib)
- increased blood pressure
- reduced blood flow to the heart
- digestive issues
- inflammation
Negative psychological factors that may lead to less favorable lifestyle habits, like smoking and an unhealthy diet, may also increase the risk of cardiovascular issues, according to the AHA.
Mental health screenings, psychological therapy, and mind-body programs can lead to better cardiovascular health. General and work-related stress have been associated with a 40% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease or dying from it, the AHA noted.
Jonathan Goldfinger, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, told Healthline that the connection between stress and heart health is somewhat complex.
“Constant or chronic stress can become toxic, and this is where the connection gets more complex,” Goldfinger said.
“Researchers believe chronic stress contributes to heart disease through both uncontrolled inflammation — the immune system gone haywire — and certain maladaptive behaviors humans are prone to during times of stress, like smoking, overeating, and overuse of alcohol or substances, which then add to the inflammation,” he added.
“Combined, these contribute to heart disease by damaging the walls of small blood vessels feeding the heart and large vessels carrying pumped blood out to the brain and body,” Goldfinger said.
James Doty, MD, a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford and the author of “Into the Magic Shop,” told Healthline that most people have the ability to change their minds and bodies.
“We know how the connection works, and it does through the vagus nerve, which arises in the brainstem and is connected to essentially every organ in the body and is especially represented in the heart,” Doty said.
The autonomic nervous system has two main branches: the fight-or-flight response and the rest-and-digest response. They work somewhat in opposition to each other.
“The brain and heart are connected by a network of nerves we call the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems,” explained Eric Rafla-Yuan, MD, a board certified psychiatrist, educator, researcher, and health policy expert.
“The sympathetic nervous system is the gas pedal, and the parasympathetic nervous system is the brake pedal. Many of the connections between the heart and brain are mediated by this system. There are mental or psychological actions that one can take to influence these,” he added.
While the fight-or-flight response is meant to keep us safe in dangerous situations, when it becomes overactivated from chronic stress, it can lead to health issues.
“What people don’t realize is that they have the ability as to how they respond to outside events and thus have control over how their [autonomic nervous system] engages,” Doty said.
“Over the last two to three decades we’ve learned a great deal about the mind-body connection, but even more so in the last decade, with new imaging tools and new ways to measure how the mind can affect the body,” Doty said. “More importantly, we are learning how to train individuals in using their mind to positively affect their body, which leads to a decrease in the occurrence of many diseases, especially chronic ones, but also increases longevity.”
Rafla-Yuan explained that the connection between brain and heart is “bi-directional,” meaning both have the capacity to influence the other.
He said examples of the bi-directional heart-brain connection may include panic attacks and “broken heart syndrome.”
Relaxation techniques and other stress management tools can help activate the rest-and-digest response when you’re stressed. Research has shown that mindfulness practices may also improve cardiovascular and mental health.
“Mindfulness interventions can help both the psychological and physical symptoms of anxiety and panic,” Rafla-Yuan said, citing yoga and tai chi as examples.
In addition to mindfulness practices, research has demonstrated in great detail the mental health benefits of physical activity. Some research even suggests the benefits may become enhanced when exercise is enjoyable.
For instance, a recent study found that tailoring exercise to suit your personal preferences, whether yoga or team sports, may have profound impacts on mental health.
Goldfinger noted a few other ways to help with stress management:
- getting enough quality sleep
- eating a healthy, balanced diet
- spending time outdoors
- engaging in social interaction
- receiving mental health care as needed
“Our minds and bodies are inseparable,” Goldfinger said. “Heart disease and depression commonly occur together. The brain is also an organ that controls and receives feedback from other organs, like our heart, adrenals, and stomach. We can control a lot of our bodily functions by training our minds, which is one reason we think mindfulness and meditation can prevent and heal the damage of toxic stress.”
“People should focus on how stress and heart health are connected and all the tangible changes they can make to protect their hearts today,” Goldfinger concluded.