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What is the mind-body health connection?
Through the mind-body health connection, our thoughts and emotions can play a central role in all aspects of our health. Research shows that by taking care of our psychological well-being we can sometimes prevent medical illness and often speed our recovery when we do get sick.
Whom does it help?
Awareness of the mind-body connection may improve the quality of life of healthy, active people as well as those who have long-term or life-threatening illness. Call the Michigan Psychological Association today at (800) 270-9070 to get in touch with a psychologist in your community.
How does the mind-body health connection work?
The mind and body are closely linked, and their relationship can exert a positive influence on health and quality of life. Attitudes, beliefs and emotional states ranging from love and compassion to fear and anger can trigger chain reactions that affect blood chemistry, heart rate and the activity of every cell and organ in the body — from the stomach and digestive tract to the immune system. Emotions can also affect your body's reaction to stresses and strains, which can cause head and backaches and other physical problems.
We can help ourselves stay healthy by paying attention to our emotional and mental status — including our worries, outlook and moods.
What does improving the mind-body health connection involve?
Many psychological therapies make use of the mind-body connection through stress management, support groups, individual psychotherapy, biofeedback, hypnosis and relaxation techniques. These are designed to improve both emotional and physical well-being. Psychologists often use one or more of these methods to help people live healthy lifestyles and to provide support and guidance to those who are sick.
Treatment that increases the awareness of the mind-body connection can help with:
- Stress
- Weight control
- Smoking cessation
- Substance abuse
- Chronic pain
- Fatigue
How can the mind-body connection help me?
The mind-body connection treats the whole person by addressing the stresses we face, particularly when illness occurs. Psychologists use the mind-body connection to work closely with other health care providers to assess the lifestyles, attitudes and family support of those who do become ill. They can help us understand the nature and treatment of our illness and create a plan to help maximize psychological well-being.
Psychologists work with us so that we can be active in our own health care choices and decisions. Awareness of the mind-body connection may be helpful in:
- Reducing missed time from work
- Speeding recovery from illness
- Lessening pain and discomfort
- Shortening hospital stays
- Enabling patients and families to better cope with illness
- Increasing mental alertness and activity
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Psychotherapy Works
A review, by Larry M. Friedberg, Ph.D., of:
"The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy: The Consumer Reports Study"
by Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania
Consumer Reports (November 1995) published the article: "Mental Health: DOES THERAPY HELP?"
Based on the results of the large-scale consumer survey on which this article is based (and on many other controlled psychotherapy research studies) the answer is a resounding YES!
This article presented the results of an in-depth survey of 7,000 Consumer Reports subscribers: 4,100 went to some combination of mental health professionals, family doctors and support groups, and of these, 2,900 saw a mental health professional. This is a very large sample for a study of psychological treatment. Nowhere else are such large sample sizes available in the (large and growing) literature on the effectiveness of psychotherapy which used treatment-control group comparisons.
Findings of the Consumer Reports Study
Psychotherapy Works: The Consumer Reports study concluded that therapy works. The vast majority of patients benefited very substantially from psychotherapy.
Eight-seven percent of patients who felt "very poor" or "fairly poor" at the beginning of therapy improved. Outcome measures included:
- Improvement in the specific problem that led the respondent to therapy
- Overall satisfaction with the therapist's treatment of the respondent's problems; and
- Global improvement in the respondents' "overall emotional state".
The longer patients stayed in treatment, the better the outcomes of the treatment in terms of satisfaction and outcomes. The longer the treatment, the more positive the outcome. This connection between the duration of appropriate treatment and its outcome has been repeatedly demonstrated in controlled studies. It is known as the Dose Effect.
- It is important to remember that the vast majority of people, even when therapy is unlimited in its availability, end therapy before six months have passed (90% before 20 visits; Coopers and Lybrand, actuarial data).
In the majority of cases, psychotherapy worked better than medication.
Psychotherapy alone was as effective as psychotherapy combined with medications such as prozac or Xanax. There was no difference between psychotherapy alone and psychotherapy plus medication for any kind of disorder.
- This is consistent with controlled studies showing that psychotherapy leads to superior results over medication for depression and panic disorder.
Sixty percent of patients who took medications said they were helpful, versus 90% for psychotherapy alone. But half of the respondents who took medication complained of problems with their medications, the most frequent being drowsiness or a feeling of disorientation. This is not to say that psychiatric medications are not helpful, when appropriately prescribed.
People who saw a mental health counselor for more than six months did much better than those who saw their family doctor for psychological problems.
Family doctors failed to refer patients to mental health specialists.
- Almost half of respondents who saw their family doctors received medication alone without the benefit of contact with a mental health professional.
- In the Consumer Reports study only one-quarter of patients seen first by their family physician were referred to a mental health professional.
- Only half of those with severe distress were referred on.
- Sixty percent of patients with panic disorder or phobias were not referred to a mental health specialist, in spite of considerable evidence that specific psychological therapies are highly effective for these disorders.
- Other research cited by Consumer Reports has shown that family doctors often fail to diagnose mental health problems (50% to 80% of these problems are not diagnosed).
- When family doctors prescribe psychiatric medications, they sometimes prescribe them at too low a dose or for too short a time.
- These factors explain why, in the Consumer Reports study, only half of the respondents were highly satisfied with treatment by their family doctors, in contrast to mental health professionals.
No specific kind of psychotherapy did better than any other for any problem. Psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers also did equally well, and were significantly superior in outcome to marriage counselors.
Managed care intrusions into psychotherapy treatment interfered with its outcome:
Respondents whose choice of therapist or duration of care was limited by their insurance coverage did less well than consumers whose treatment was not managed.
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