Your Physical Health and Your Emotions

When I begin working with a new person, some of the first things that I ask about are sleep, diet, and exercise.  Sometimes people are confused, thinking those are questions that a medical doctor should be asking, not a psychologist.  I explain that these three things play a huge role in our emotions and are called vulnerability factors.  They are called vulnerability factors because they can affect our mood and emotions, and leave us vulnerable to some moods and emotions that we don't want.  I'm sure that we all can relate to that grumpy feeling we get when we haven't gotten enough sleep, or that lethargic feeling when we oversleep.  Our bodies are connected to our emotions.  How do you feel when you are hungry?  Does it affect your emotions?  I am sure that many will say yes.  I know for one that I can become very emotional when hungry, and can be what people now are jokingly calling "hangry," that anger that comes from being hungry.  And lastly, exercise is considered by some to be the body's natural antidepressant.  There is a treatment in psychology known as behavioral activation, and one facet of this is that being active can serve to reverse feelings of depression.  When you feel depressed, you feel slowed down and you just want to pull the covers over your head.  By becoming active and doing the opposite of that slow-down urge, you are in a way systematically reversing the feelings of depression.  Exercise works great for anxiety and stress as well.  When those emotions increase, it can feel like they are being stored up in the body, and exercise helps to release them.  I hope that this helps you to understand the importance of sleep, diet, and exercise in relation to your psychological health.  In future posts, I will go into more detail on the research of all three areas.