How mental wellness affects your health

How stress affects you

You need a degree of stress to help you respond to life-threatening danger and motivate you. While in the past this may have been triggered by the occasional encounter with a woolly mammoth, today you are be constantly exposed to it through work deadlines, family crises and the pressure of being on call 24/7 through electronic devices.

Prolonged exposure to stress hormones can affect your body’s immune, cardiovascular, digestive, sleep and reproductive systems, and has been linked to everything from high blood pressure and clogged arteries, to changes in your brain that may contribute to anxiety, depression, addiction and obesity. These in turn can have physical repercussions.

The dangers of obesity and addiction are now well -known, but depression too has been linked to chronic physical illnesses, from cardiovascular disease to asthma, diabetes, arthritis and cancer – and according to the SA Stress and Health Study, around one in ten of us experience depression.

In an online survey by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) during the COVID-19 lockdown, 65% of participants reported feeling stressed or very stressed – and SADAG call centres have experienced higher call volumes, linked to anxiety and panic, financial stress, depression, poor family relations, suicidal feelings and substance abuse. This means that it’s more essential than ever to address stress.

The importance of sleep for your health

Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep is a common sign of depression, and has been linked to lower mood and mental functioning, and increased stress. The US Sleep Foundation defines sleep deprivation as getting "less than the needed amount of sleep", which for adults is from seven to nine hours a night (children and teens need even more). In a recent study, having five nights of less than five hours sleep was shown to lower mood and mental outlook, and raise "negative emotional bias".

During sleep, your body and brain repair themselves, and your brain sorts and stores information, consolidating memories and thoughts – so  too little sleep can leave you unable to think or recall clearly. Your immune system is also strengthened during sleep. Studies have shown that without enough sleep, your numbers of protective T-cell lymphocytes drop, while inflammatory cytokines rise, increasing your risk of developing infections, and leaving you less able to fight them off.

How hormonal balance affects mental health

Like sleep, hormones influence your mental health. A hormone imbalance is usually the result of too much stress hormone, which affects all your other hormones, including the sex hormones oestrogen, protesterone and testosterone – which are produced by both women and men, in different proportions. 

In women, hormone levels naturally change during their monthly menstrual cycle, and in the low-oestrogen phase many experience the emotional and mental effects of PMS (premenstrual syndrome). This can become extreme, some women developing premenstrual dysphoric disorder with debilitating monthly depression. 

Men’s testosterone levels can drop with age in what’s been called andropause, linked to erectile problems, decreased muscle strength and low libido, which can affect confidence and fuel anxiety and depression. 

Lifestyle factors like a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise to help manage stress may help with hormone imbalances for both sexes. But if you notice the signs above, speak to your health professional, who may run hormone tests, says Clicks pharmacist Waheed Abdurahman.

How gut health affects mental health and immunity

Some 70% of your immune cells live in your gut, and whatever you eat and digest makes contact with your gut lining and the immune cells there. A combination of information from your food and the trillions of microbes living in your gut is captured by your gut immune system and conveyed to your brain by the blood stream, and by peripheral nerves like the vagus nerve. 

When there is too much inflammation in your gut immune system, the signals can reach your central nervous and change brain function. This "inflammatory cascade" has been associated with depression and anxiety.
 
To improve your gut immune system, you can support a healthy gut biome by eating more whole foods (vegetables, fruits, whole grains) and avoiding highly processed ones. If you are unable to eat properly, ask your health professional or pharmacist about pre and probiotics, says Abdurahman. 

Natural ways to reduce stress

While first prize would be to reduce our stress levels, the challenges of everyday stressors make this a lofty goal. The good news is that there are a variety of supplements containing natural ingredients that can help you to relax, thereby lowering your cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

According to a study, taking a vitamin B supplement, either on its own or with a multivitamin, was found to have a positive effect on mood. Studies are also underway to determine whether magnesium can help with anxiety, as it has been found to play a role in stress-related pathologies.

A 2015 review of studies found CBD (cannabidiol) held promise for different forms of anxiety, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but noted that there was need for further studies. CBD contains chemicals extracted from cannabis or hemp plants, but not THC (the psychoactive component that causes a ‘high’).

To date few negative side effects have been detected except occasional diarrhoea, fatigue and changes in appetite and weight. But as CBD is not classified as a medicine (except for Aurora, a CBD product the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority has approved for difficult forms of epilepsy), it’s not subjected to the same rigorous tests as medicine and caution is advised. It’s best keep to reputable sources, so speak to your pharmacist, says Abdurahman. 

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Also read: Stress management techniques

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