For much of the history of modern medicine, the brain and body were studied and treated separately.
But in recent years, researchers have begun to look more closely at the link between physical health and mental health.
In this video, Chris Palmer, MD, explains just how important this link is, and what can happen when it’s overlooked:
One of the most common, I think, misperceptions or misconceptions is that poor metabolic health in people with mental illness is either a side effect of the medications that we’re prescribing, or it’s actually due essentially to the person’s mental illness itself, lack of motivation, a lack of willpower, overeating, under-exercising, staying in bed too much, using harmful substances like tobacco and other substances. And in fact, we now have about a century of data suggesting something much more profound. And that is that the same biological pathways that can lead to the development of mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, chronic depression, overlap a lot with the biological pathways that can lead to things that we call obesity or type two diabetes or cardiovascular disease. And let me give you some clear, easy to understand examples. Higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers are associated with all of those disorders, both mental disorders and metabolic disorders.
Insulin resistance can be associated with both types of disorders. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be associated with both types of disorders. Immune system dysregulation can be associated with both types of disorders. The gut microbiome and disruptions in the gut microbiome is associated with both types of disorders. And so we need to think more broadly when we think about mental health and metabolic health, we need to connect the science and the dots because the reality is right now what we’re doing is not working optimally for hundreds of millions of people with mental illness. And the clearest testament to this is that people with mental disorders on average are dying early deaths. And what are they dying from? They are largely dying from metabolic disorders, things like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and the complications of those disorders.
As Chris indicated, we now have a growing body of evidence showing how closely physical and mental health are connected.
I’ll have more to say about that soon.
But in the meantime, I’d like to hear from you: Where have you seen a connection between a client’s physical and mental health? How did you work with it?
Please leave a comment below.
I address the bi-directional relationship between mental and physical health in my book “Inflammation in the Brain and the Body: A Mind Body Hypothesis” by John D Matthews, MD, MSc. My book was published by the American Psychiatric Association Publishing in November 2025 and I presented an overview of my book at the American Psychiatric Association Annual meeting in May 2026. There is substantial evidence that we need to treat medical and psychiatric disorders as mind-body or whole-body disorders.
John D Matthews, M.D., M.Sc.
I agree with this. I recommend anyone who’s interested read the book Inflamed by Rupa Marya MD and Raj Patel.
Also, I’d love it if Chris would make a video talking about inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction and which parts are valid science and contrast them with the fearmongering and false information currently being peddled by certain alternative health, anti-science uh, outlets, let’s say.
Happy to hear that you appreciated the video. And you can be certain that at NICABM, we’re committed to following the research in our field while making sure that we’re not getting ahead of the science. Stay tuned to something special that we’ve been working hard on.
I am grateful to have trained as a biopsychsocialspiritually oriented Family Physician with a fellowship and many years practice in Addiction psych/Behavioral medicine. Our current healthcare structures do not support the wonderful opportunities to integrate care models for optimal assessment/diagnosis and treatment approaches. Listening, observing and learning from patients has led me to recognize the tremendous potential gains in efficiency and outcomes we could see if our medical systems were open to and created channels for truly integrated learning and delivery of services. I’m experiencing this as a time similar to that when “addiction” was finally recognized in a new way and fMRIs were able to “convince” clinicians to pay attention to something they ignored because they didn’t feel they could “treat” it anyway. Similarly, brain adaptation to overwhelming experiences has been around throughout humanity but now, there are tremendous advances in understanding the implications of such experiences, the many manifestations we see daily and, numerous proven paths to potential healing and positive outcomes. Minimally, somatic physicians should become more aware of how relevant this information is to them (MDs didn’t used to want to believe that screen for “alcoholism” was useful!). I thank NICABM for the tremendous work they are doing and look forward to days of wiser approaches to healthcare and medical care.
A client who learned early on not to express themself, lest it upset their caregiver, who then developed ulcerative colitis at age seven and underwent ostomy surgery at age seventeen. They are still dealing with the voice in their head that tells them to stay silent. They internalized that voice to protect themselves and remain in survival mode. What to do? Co-regulate so feelings come back in line. Witness. “That must have been terrifying.” The release from being seen and understood will help the client begin to feel and express themselves now.
The body mind connection is always present, the person in front of you is whole. As therapist you have to have that in mind. That is more important than your theoretical background or the protocol you follow. In front of you there is a person with a history, past and present struggles that reveal themselves if you are present, resonating with whatever he/she brings.
Staying present requires the therapist having gone through extensive therapy of her/his own. As a professional you have to have integrated in yourself theory and being, so that in the therapeutic moments you can also be whole. Otherwise, you as the therapist perpetuate the spit.
A simple question- would adding more fiber to our diet (either by fiber rich foods or suppliments) and drinking-and exclusivly water (and lots and lots more of that ) not perhaps change the way we eat (ie want to eat, feel after and before eating, what we naturally want to eat and thus to eat), which might not then, impact our physical health, weight issues, energy levels, feelings of well being and then our mental health (ie last on the list is mental health)? I suspect that by injesting over processed foods we are already squewing our body to eating more sugar,starch and over stimulationg foods which can impact mental health in turn. Also that lots of foods create allergies and discomfort. Just running to the doctor for pills will not treat the underlying issue which might be best addressed by more holistic approaches such as mindfulness, meditation before sleeping to shut down our minds, exercise such as yoga and awareness of a cognitive predispensation to negative models of thinking and focusing on ourselves- with the hope of challenging some of these negative models and to challenge them
Psychiatrist Georgia Ede, MD recently published a book, “Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind,” in which she addresses exactly these sorts of questions. It might be something you’d enjoy checking out. *Not advertising the book. Sharing what has been interesting and helpful.
I appreciate the recognition of the body as a whole being, rather than parsing out areas. Whenever I hear about more integration of dimensions of wellness, I am struck by how far we are from older, established medical models such as Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Indigenous medicine including Native American medicine, that integrate many more areas. Traditional societies had stronger community structures which support social wellness and the health models also acknowledge energy systems. How might we be better informed about more dimensions of wellness to support our clients? Jasia, PhD, RD
Wonderful video! I see this all the time in my work with brain injury survivors undergoing residential neurocognitive and physical rehabilitation. I have personal experience with this too, as many have, and have drawn this connection out with my clients more earnestly over these more recent years. I’m glad to see educational materials on this topic emerging for psychologists like myself. Thank you kindly!