For people who suffer from depression or anxiety, being diagnosed with a physical health condition on top of a mental health issue can feel like the worst kind of bad luck. But recent research suggests that this type of dual diagnosis is more than just an unfortunate coincidence. Scientists are learning that seemingly unrelated psychological and physical issues may actually be closely connected.
Doctors once thought that the link between mental and physical health problems was purely behavioral. Depressed people are less likely to take their medications or practice healthy habits, for instance, so they get sicker. Sick people experience pain and impaired function, which affects their emotional state.
“But we have really come to learn that that’s not the case,” says Dr. David Gitlin, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Psychosomatic Medicine and clinical vice chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “These factors are certainly important, but there is also something physiological that’s happening.”
This mysterious mind-body connection seem to be at play in a new study published this week in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, which focused on the physical and mental health of people with psoriasis, an autoimmune disease that causes red patches and flaky scales to form on the surface of the skin. Depression is common among people with psoriasis, who often deal with discomfort and social stigma related to their condition.
[For more of this story, written by Amanda MacMillen, go to http://time.com/4679492/depres...ety-chronic-disease/]
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