What’s the connection between physical and emotional health?

Dear Reader, 

That’s a great question! Your overall health is influenced by many factors, each of which is connected and requires attention. While health has traditionally been referred to in terms of physical illness, conversations have shifted to include factors beyond the individual that impact an individual’s health outcomes. As a result, the term “well-being” has also been introduced to account for individual, society, and community experiences. That said, there are many ways in which physical health and emotional health are connected—more than can be fully explored in this response. If you’re interested in getting an overview of what health and well-being entail and how physical and emotional health interact, read on.  

How do physical and emotional health interact?  

You specifically ask about how physical and emotional health impact each other. It’s important to first clarify that when speaking about physical health this can include sleep, physical activity, and the foods you eat or don’t eat, among other things. When it comes to emotional health this can include things like stress, relationships with others, and coping strategies, etc. Some examples of the connection between physical and emotional health include the way that: 

• Depression can lead to a weak immune system, and in turn, more frequent sickness.
• Poor mental health can lead to inactivity and poor physical health.
• Mental health conditions can make it difficult to treat chronic disease.
• Physical activity can help overcome substance use disorders, reduce stress, improve mood, focus, and cognition, and reduce the chances of developing certain illnesses. 

There are, of course, more ways that physical and emotional health intersect, but hopefully, these examples help demonstrate the connections between the two. 

How can you prioritize physical health in your life? 

When thinking about prioritizing physical health, it might be helpful to think about how much space, time, and resources you have to invest. It’s important to keep a balance in different areas of your life rather than focusing solely on one aspect.  

You might find it useful to know that even small habits can be helpful, adding up over time to affect your health. For example, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) describes everyday activities you may already be doing that can improve your health. These could include taking out the trash or working at a standing desk. You could take NEAT activities one step further and consider changes such as taking the stairs instead of elevators or running or biking to work if you’re able to. 

All this to say, physical health and emotional health are interconnected parts of well-being. Small actions in one area can impact other parts of your life even if they don’t seem connected. Taking steps to support your physical health could help you support your emotional health overall. 

What are other factors that influence health and well-being?  

Physical health and emotional health are only one aspect of your overall well-being. Instead, many aspects of your well-being are involved in determining your health. Some of these factors could include: 

• Emotional well-being: which encourages recognizing, expressing, and managing emotions; it also encourages the ability to adapt to changing environments
• Physical well-being: which encourages caring for your body
• Intellectual well-being: which encourages lifelong learning and exploration of passions to engage the mind
• Career well-being: finding opportunities to gain professional enrichment
• Financial well-being: which encourages managing and navigating monetary resources to support current and future needs
• Spiritual well-being: which encourages engaging in practices to connect to something beyond yourself 

• Relational well-being: which encourages developing social connections within your circles and broader communities to nurture a sense of belonging 

These categories aren’t exclusive, meaning that there are other things not listed here that also contribute to your well-being. These factors are always changing due to context, life experience, etc.  

Engaging with your well-being may be a dynamic pursuit that ebbs and flows. For example, while you might find meaning and purpose in your intellectual well-being at one time (say while you’re in school), your priorities may shift, and you might prioritize another form of well-being after graduating, like your financial or career well-being. Instead of thinking about health and well-being as something to achieve once and for all, it might be more helpful to think about it as something you're constantly interacting with. 

Hope this helps!