These past few months we’ve had the opportunity to speak with several doctors in a variety of fields about bridging the gap between behavioral health care and physical health care. The topic is of course nothing new. But what is new is that today more and more MDs, RNs, and psychotherapists recognize that coordinating care in all areas, addressing the needs of the whole person, results in healthier patients.
We touch on the subject in the Mental Health Treatment Plan Series and in earlier posts, like this:
Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Depression
There are correlations, sometimes causative, between physical illnesses and mental illnesses. For example, the American Diabetes Association says that people with diabetes have a greater risk of depression than those without the disease. Diabetics are not alone. After a heart attack or cardiac surgery, patients are naturally likely to feel depressed. But for some, especially those with cardiovascular disease, as many as 15 percent experience major depression. For those who’ve had coronary artery bypass surgery the number is as high as 20 percent.
There may be many reasons why this is so. For some, the fear and sadness triggered by having a debilitating illness, if left unchecked, can develop into major depression. But sometimes the diseases themselves can cause physiological changes that mimic depression, especially in the case of diabetes.
Depression isn’t the only issue. Patients with some conditions, including heart conditions, might be diagnosed with anxiety when the problem is physiological. And some diseases such as mononucleosis can be mistaken for depression or other mental illnesses–and vice versa. Additionally, medicines used to treat conditions can have side effects that cause symptoms of mental illnesses.
Sometimes the answer isn’t clear-cut, and there may even be overlap. That’s why I encourage everyone, especially those struggling with any mental illness, to get a thorough physical at the start of therapy, and at least once a year thereafter.
The 15-Minute Heart Cure
A recent addition to this discussion is the book, The 15-Minute Heart Cure, by cardiologist John M. Kennedy, MD, which we can’t recommend enough. It offers a simple and very effective relaxation technique based on proven methods. Next Tuesday our interview with Dr. Kennedy will appear at Therapy Soup at PsychCentral.com. In it Dr. Kennedy talks with us about the human heart, stress, Japanese octopus traps and more. We’ll post the link next week.
Have a great weekend!
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