TrueCare DPC
Restoring, preserving, and promoting health through
Direct Primary Care
The Mind-Body Connection
Introduction
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to share with you a metaphor I like to use to help my patients understand what I believe to be the nature of the mind-body connection. Now, just like I like to remind my patients, I am not a psychiatrist or psychologist. I don’t think it would be correct to describe me as a “mental health expert.” But I would say that as a family medicine practitioner, it is incredibly important that I have a sound knowledge regarding mental health and the impact it plays on my patient’s overall well-being. Especially when so much of mental health care takes place in the primary care setting. More about that in this blog post.
So, with that, let me share with you what I believe to be an effective analogy at illuminating some of the complexities regarding the mind-body connection.
Racers and Race Cars
Imagine you were the world’s best race car driver. Hands down, you were the world’s undisputed racing champion at the highest level of the toughest races. Now imagine that you were given a little beater to drive. An old busted down car with bad tires, a crack in the engine, bad breaks, just all bad. Do you think you would be as effective a race car driver? Probably not. In fact, not only would you have little chance of winning any race, let alone world championships, you would also be placing yourself in danger if you insisted on pushing the boundaries of the vehicle.
Now imagine that you are just an every day car drive like myself. No championships for racing. Just a normal every day driver commuting to work or what have you. What do you think would happen if we put you inside the world’s greatest race car. If this car was designed by the best engineers to be the absolute fastest, best handling, most stable race car that had ever been invented, do you think you’d be able to win a race? Again, I doubt it. And again, I believe you’d still be putting yourself and others in danger if you insisted on driving this car like it was meant to be driven and pushing it to its limits. Especially if you lack the skills to be successful in managing the car on the track.
In similar fashion, mental health and the mind-body connection is like the relationship between a race car driver and the race car itself. If you have a great driver but a bad car, problems. But if you have a bad driver and a great car, still, problems. You need both to come together in a symbiotic relationship where they compliment each other and work hand-in-hand to win championships.
The Mind and the Body
In our little analogy, the driver represents the mind. Now, the mind is what I believe to be the real “you.” I tell my patients that the mind is the you that would keep on existing if the body (including the brain) ceased to exist. Some call the mind the “seat of consciousness.” This is the place of emotion and will. And there’s debate about whether or not the mind and the brain are two separate entities. I for one believe they are.
Now, when the mind, when you have a strong sense of identity, a sense of purpose, a positive outlook, and a flexibility that allows you to adapt to changing circumstances, you are more likely to enjoy good mental health. However, if this same mind is seated in a body that is fed the Standard American Diet (SAD), chronically overworked and under rested, doesn’t exercise regularly, and relies on substances to make it through the day, this mind will struggle with negative mood and subsequent negative thoughts. You’re still likely to experience symptoms that are common in depression, anxiety, and even difficulty with focus.
In contrast, the body includes every physical aspect of yourself. It includes the brain, the skull it sits in, the nervous system it leads, and all the other organs and individual cells that make up your physical form. When this body is well fed with nutritious meals, when it moves often through regularly exercise, when it’s well rested, the body is more likely to feel well. But even such a well cared for body can manifest a lack of energy, weakness, and fatigue, and a sense of irritability if the mind that governs this body is filled with negative perceptions of self, lack of purpose, poor outlook on the future, and things like these. The body may not be physically sick, but due to an unhealthy and unproductive mindset, it can produce symptoms that have the appearance of a physical disease. Think about the infamous anxiety attack. How many people experience what they think might be a heart attack when it turns out it’s the underlying stressors of life that are weighing them down with anxiety and producing a panic attack?
What I Recommend
Because I believe that the mind and body are two separate, but intimately connected entities that make up human life, I believe mental health and mental health care require consideration for both. Patients will often ask me which I believe is most important to focus on. But I don’t know that I can say there’s one aspect that is necessarily most important for promoting mental well-being. I believe an honest argument could be made for either.
In regards to caring for your mind, be mindful (hehe see what I did there) of the kinds of things you’re feeding your mind. What are the sources of information your consuming and what are you believing? I posted a video explaining why I think it’s important to question your own thoughts. Not every thought that crosses the mind is accurate or helpful. Learn to ask yourself three simple questions: is that true, where does that come from, and is there a more positive or useful way for me to think about that?
I honestly believe in the value of rehearsing important truths. The concept of neuroplasticity suggests that the more the brain practices something, the easier that thing becomes. Rehearsing important truths helps the brain lay down a neural framework that can facilitate positive thinking.
In regards to the body, the challenge for a healthy body is not complicated. Hear me on this. It’s not easy. But it also isn’t complicated. Gurus everywhere have turned the simple art of eating well, moving well, and sleeping well into some convoluted pseudoscience that doesn’t help anyone. Except perhaps their sales strategy. Yes, it isn’t always easy to get enough sleep, eat whole foods, or get regular physical exercise. But that doesn’t mean that what the body needs has changed in the last century. The difficulty is not in understanding the concepts, but rather developing or refining the skills we need to practice them. This is where partnering with a health coach or your primary care practitioner can come in handy.
Conclusion
When we consider the complexity and intricacy of the mind-body connection, we can see why it’s difficult to choose where to start. Recruiting the help of a trained health coach or a primary care practitioner can be really useful. You want to team up with someone who takes the time to get to know you, your values, your circumstances, and can appreciate the nuances of your own story and how it has impacted you. You don’t just want a mechanic who focuses on the vehicle (the body), always “fine-tuning” chemicals to figure out what kind of concoction will numb the mind enough that it stops bothering you. But you also don’t just want someone who focuses so much on mindset that they neglect the importance of the body’s needs. Sometimes it’s necessary to come under the care of a team where different practitioners can coordinate care to provide a holistic approach for the sake of your mental health.
The point of it all is for us to appreciate that we are more than just chemistry and we are more than just a mind. We have a mind and that mind lives in a body. Both need to be cared for and nurtured. Both come together to give us what we now refer to as mental health.
If you’re in the Fayetteville/Fort Liberty area and your looking for a primary care practitioner who takes a holistic approach to medical care, I’d love to chat with you. Feel free to send me a text or give me a call at (910) 758-1769