Depression, which is totally abstract (as far as i understand), has physical effects like increased chances of developing Alzheimer’s and brain aging faster and in some cases physical appearance aging faster too. How?
Edit: are people thinking this question is religious or pseudo scientific? Cuz its not
In: Biology
The idea that the mind and the body are separate, and that consciousness exists, somehow, outside of physical reality is a peculiar one. Part of the blame belongs with religion, but some of the blame less with Descartes and his dualism.
The mind is the product of the brain and, conversely, what happens in the mind influences the brain, because what happens in the mind happens in the brain. The mind is physically real, not some metaphysical ‘ghost’ – how else would it be able to interact with physical reality?
Relinquish the Judeo-Christian idea that mind and body are separate, and you’ll have your answer.
Depression isn’t “totally abstract”. Our minds manifest themselves in the physical activity of neurons and other cells in our body. Saying that our mind is anything else is an unprovable philosophical statement. Then, from there, it’s incredibly simple to figure that it would have physical effects, being that the source is physical in our brains.
I’ll admit I don’t fully understand, but I think part of the problem is the question. Depression isn’t entirely abstract. Your brain is a chemical machine, and there are chemical components to why it has problems. I’m probably oversimplifying a little bit, but depression is supposedly caused by not having enough serotonin. Maybe some forms are caused by different chemical problems, but there is to my knowledge always a physical component to the problem. Thus it’s not an entirely abstract problem, and there’s no reason why the consequences of it should all be abstract.
Think of it this way, your brain is an engine, and serotonin is like motor oil. Your engine needs a certain amount of motor oil to run properly, and consistently not having enough of it will put stress on your engine. In much the same way, your Brain needs a certain amount of serotonin to function properly. As for premature aging, stress on the brain is stress on the body, and stress causes premature aging.
Keep in mind I’m not a doctor. Just someone diagnosed with depression that has a limited understanding of it. I’d be interested to hear a more educated perspective because I’d really hate to spread any misinformation.
Mind-body-spirit are a single system.
It works both ways.
If we do proper self-care (sleep hygiene, nutrition, hydration, activity/exercise) we have better mental/emotional health outcomes.
Why wouldn’t it work the other way.
Depression, as far as we know, is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. Your brain produces and reabsorbs chemicals like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine which help regulate your mood as well as control things like your sleep schedule, ability to form memories, feeling emotions, and lots of other functions. If the brain is unable to “calibrate” all of these chemicals correctly, you will likely develop mental health issues. Depression doesn’t just make someone look crestfallen and feel sad. It causes things like anhedonia (the lack of pleasure when experiencing pleasurable things), sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, suicidal ideation, and other problems that ultimately cause stress. Stress over extended periods physically shortens the telomeres, which are the ends of our x-shaped chromosomes that make up our very DNA. The damage done to your telomeres results in accelerated aging, due to the reduced ability of the telomeres to prevent errors from occurring such as neighboring chromosomes fusing together at the ends. When these telomeres malfunction, this can cause cell death or senescence, the inability to replicate into new cells.
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