Mental Health

Impact of Chronic Illness on an Individual’s Mental Health And What You Can Do About It

  • Last Updated On: July 6, 2023
  • 2 minute read

Chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and obesity can have an adverse impact on your body physically. However, studies have shown that the impact can extend to your mental state as well. 

Here’s What You Should Know:

How does Chronic Illness Affect Mental Health?

Our physical and mental states are connected, when one is affected so is the other. This can clearly be observed when an ache in one part of the body prevents the mind from concentrating on work. Or when you are sad about something you find that you have no energy to carry out physical tasks. 

Due to the prolonged nature of chronic diseases, they tend to have more severe and long-lasting effects on our mental health. Here are four ways chronic illness can affect mental health:

1. Diseases like diabetes, cancer and obesity can often leave you feeling drained of energy, this prevents you from doing many of our favourite activities. Simple things like going for a walk, meeting friends at a restaurant, or even being involved in a hobby can seem like a huge task. Over time this could lead to depression and a sense of worthlessness.

2. The link between stress and hypertension has been well-documented. The two are interconnected and while stress leads to hypertension, hypertension can also lead to stress. A diagnosis of other chronic diseases like cancer or heart disease can also cause extreme stress in individuals.

3. Anxiety is another mental health problem that can be brought on by chronic diseases. Everything from an impending chemotherapy session, to the thought of having to exercise can lead to anxiety. 

4. Another way chronic illness can after mental health is through the side effects of drugs. Some medicines used for a long time to treat high blood pressure could lead to depression or increase mood disorders.

How to Treat the Impact of Chronic Disease on Mental Health?

One of the most important ways to treat the effect chronic diseases has on mental health is to prevent it as far as possible. If you receive a diagnosis that makes you start to feel anxious, stressed, or depressed, it would be a good idea to seek out professional help at the earliest. Having the tools to deal with these problems can ease the symptoms.

It would also be wise to check with your doctor about the side effects of any new medication you have to take. If you have a history of depression, mood disorder or any other mental health issue, you should check if the medication can aggravate the condition. Also, ask your doctor what is the best way to prevent these side effects or how to treat them. Having a support group or talking to family and friends can also help.

Do You have a Plan?

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