Did you know that your body is affected by depression & anxiety the same way as smoking?

It’s about time we start taking mental illness more seriously, for a recent study showed that being anxious or depressed can have repercussions on one’s physical health as well. The findings show that being depressed or anxious increases one’s risk for a stroke or heart disease, the same way smoking and obesity does. With the findings showing that people with high levels of anxiety and depression are at 65% higher risk for a heart condition, 64% for stroke, 50 % for high blood pressure and 87 % for arthritis, the study emphasised the importance of treating mental health conditions.

Published in the journal, Health Psychology, the study also showed that cancer was found as an exception to conditions impacted by depression and anxiety. "Our findings are in line with a lot of other studies showing that psychological distress is not a strong predictor of many types of cancer," said co-author Aoife O'Donovan from the UCSF.She also urged that to stop the trend of attributing cancer diagnoses to histories of stress, depression and anxiety.


The research team also found that high stress and depression had symptoms such as headache, stomach upset, back pain and shortness of breath. For example, odds for headache for people with anxiety or depression increased by a whopping 161%. "Anxiety and depression symptoms are strongly linked to poor physical health, yet these conditions continue to receive limited attention in primary care settings, compared to smoking and obesity," Niles said. The results of the study underscore the "long-term costs of untreated depression and anxiety," O'Donovan noted. For the study, the team looked at the health data of more than 15,000 older adults over a four-year period.