Physical health and wellbeing

The way we think and feel can cause us to become more prone to illness and disease; people that are highly stressed often find that they have more colds and other minor illnesses; this is because stress over long time periods reduces the ability of our immune system to protect the body.

But the effect on the body of the symptoms of mental illness, along with the side effects of medications such as antipsychotics or antidepressants, can also have an effect on our health. Movement disorders, weight gain and changes to heart function are some of the more extreme side effects experienced by some people, which have the potential to make us physically ill.

It is therefore important to make sure you are aware of the signs of physical health problems that may be associated with certain mental health diagnoses, and that you take active steps, where possible, to look after your health; and there is a lot that you can do.

For these reasons it is very important that the physical health of people is not forgotten alongside mental illness, and this should include educating people about what their illness may mean for their health, what they should look out for and what they can do to help themselves or those they care for.

Managing stress, making sure our lifestyles are healthy through our diet and activity levels, as well as minimising unhealthy behaviours such as smoking or drinking are all things you can do, to take positive control over your physical health.

Doctors also have a responsibility to perform regular health reviews in order to check for physical health problems resulting from the medications they are having to prescribe.