An article in the Medical Press titled “Study links depression scores, white blood cell count” https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-links-depression-scores-white-blood.html provides strong evidence of something we already know: the mind and body are not two separate entities; they are one and the same. Apparently, depression increases your white blood cell count, an indication of systemic inflammation. Your depression can make you physically ill. If that weren’t enough, scientists have also discovered that just having a genetic predisposition to depression increases inflammation. If you have a family history of clinical depression, be aware and tend to your self-care.
Many people wonder if they are depressed. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), major depression can be diagnosed when you have five or more of the following symptoms (I have condensed these for easy reading):
- Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day
- Marked diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities
- Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain
- Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
- Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
- Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
- Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
- Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
All of these symptoms are serious. Please seek the help of a mental health professional if you suspect you are depressed. Treatment is important for your mental health and for your overall wellness.
What have we learned? Just because a condition is “psychiatric” it doesn’t mean that it’s not “biological” as well. Sigmund Freud may have developed modern psychiatry, but his emphasis on the mind as both the cause and the source of psychiatric distress severely missed the mark. Our minds are in our brains, and our brains are, strictly speaking, biological. Mental and physical health cannot be separated. What impacts your thoughts and feelings is also working on your body.
These findings provide both a stark warning and an opportunity. Knowing how important your mental health is to your physical health should encourage you to seek treatment for symptoms of depression. Moreover, it should motivate you to be conscientious about your self-care. Knowing that we are biological beings, through and through, provides a great new opportunity to control our destinies.
Stop Losing and Win 