Is Mental Health Physical? Is Physical Health Mental?

Is physical health mental health? Is mental health physical health? I like to think the answer to those questions is yes. I do believe that one’s physical health affects one’s mental health and vice versa. Why, though? What is it about these that connect them?

Well, let’s take a look.

First, is physical health mental health? Yes, I believe it is. Why do I believe that? I have a story to tell that might explain my answer.

On August 5th, 2020, I woke up at my usual 4am, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, and left for work at 5am. I was scheduled to work 6am-2pm—the usual eight-hour shift at my workplace—but on that day, I made it to 8:30am. Yes, I made it two and a half hours through my shift. I collapsed while working at one of the stations I rotated through during my workday.

I was at a washing station, and I remember getting hot, my ears started to ring, and my vision got blurry. And then I was sitting on a box. My breathing was ragged and shallow, my vision had black spots and kept going in and out. I remember my boss coming up to me asking if I was doing okay. Obviously, I wasn’t doing okay, but I tried standing.

I collapsed. After that, the on-site nurse at my workplace brought me to the hospital. They did a bunch of different tests, and I was sent home because I wasn’t allowed to come back to work for a few weeks. After that, things sort of got better, but not exactly.

he hospital put a heart monitor on me to check how my heart rate was doing—when it was rising, when it would fall, if it went out of the “normal range” for an adult male (I don’t know what that range is, sorry)—and after fourteen days I sent the monitor back to them through the mail. However, it still took a while for me to get back to work.

I went back to work in September, having finally been cleared by a doctor, and once again I almost collapsed. This time, though, I was at a different area of my workplace. So, now, I’m thinking something must actually be wrong. I was sent home for the week to rest and came back again. And almost collapsed. Everything was going wrong. I could barely walk without getting out of breath. Climbing stairs was a problem, walking too far was a problem, and doing anything that may increase my blood pressure and strain any part of my body would cause issues.

As it turned out the only issue I had was my blood pressure would rise while I was working and then, when I would get a short time to relax, it would plummet. That caused the oxygen and blood in my body not to reach my brain as well as it should, and I would back out. I was put on blood pressure medicine (which I am still on) and nothing has happened in months. So, that’s good.

On the work side, I was told I was on medical leave, but that’s where things got interesting. I kept trying to go back to work, but they kept sending me home because I was still on leave. I thought that was odd because I had talked to the leave department and they said my leave had ended. Why wasn’t I able to work? Despite that, because of company policy, I had to go home every day I drove in.

Finally, though, I went back to work. That was awesome. However, it took two and a half months for me to get any sort answer related to what was going on with me. I went to three hospitals, I saw three different doctors—including a cardiologist (who looked at me and diagnosed me in twelve seconds at most)—and because I went to three different hospitals, getting the results was difficult. I called each of them multiple times to no avail (I was rushing them, I guess) and eventually, my medical leave ran out on the company’s side.

I went back to work when I thought my leave had ended, but apparently the doctor who wrote my needed leave didn’t write the correct dates on the papers I handed in to the leave department. And then COVID became a massive deal here in the USA. I was told getting into the hospital now even for a simple paper fixing my Leave-of-Absence dates would take weeks. I was also told that I would be charged for seeing the doctor (not having free medical care here sucks, honestly—that’s over 200USD just to see someone and have them take the time to fix a few dates.)

A few months ago, during an audit done by the company I work for, my leave-of-absence did not match up with anything that had been written down by the doctor I saw. So, I had apparently missed over six weeks of work without any legitimate form of absence. Because of the audit and the amount of “points” I had accrued, I was terminated. There was no way to keep me, though, my boss said. Apparently, the fight to keep me went all the way up to the Vice-President of Operations who made the final call on my termination (try overturning him, right?)…

Is mental health physical health, though? Again, I think the answer is yes.

Now, I currently have no job. It sucks. I’m bored. I’m applying to other places, sure, but the health issues I had and trying so hard to get back to work without succeeding had chipped away at my brain. I was angry, I was sad because I liked my work and wanted the simplicity, the methodical movements and actions and almost brainless way things worked. I keep thinking of the what-ifs. What if I had just forced my way into the hospital and had a doctor fix the dates they’d written on my leave of absence? What if I had never had blood pressure issues to begin with? What if I had been able to convince X, or Y, or Z of A, B, and C? What if…what if…what if…

I’m struggling to eat healthy foods because I have had no income, I’m struggling to drink enough water because I don’t want to move from my chair or my bed. I have no reason to go to bed at a reasonable time, nor do I have a reason wake up at a reasonable time. I have no reason to do anything I used to do because I no longer have a schedule. My structured life is gone right now, and I’m struggling to figure out how to cope.

My story from August (when I first collapsed) until November (when I was terminated) says this: physical health is mental health. I wasn’t able to do anything because my body was basically giving out until I got on my blood pressure medication, and that hurt me mentally because I kept thinking, “What can I do without running out of breath? What can I do without my ears ringing? What can I do without my vision getting blurry and my body getting hot, and collapsing wherever I’m standing?”

Now, sure, I’m not thinking why can’t I do this without that? I am thinking, though, why couldn’t I get this figured out sooner so I could still have my job? In the end, though, everything has worked itself out. I recently accepted a position at an emergency medical service company that has locations across the United States. I’ll be on a six month trial period there, which I feel has become standard in the workplace—trial periods to see if people have the skills and ability and mental stamina to continuously work in the field. I’m excited for this opportunity and am hoping it turns out well for me. I believe it will, because I’m putting my all into this position when I start.

Mental health is physical and physical health is mental. The brain is a part of the body. The brain is a physical object. Health is health.