Spotlight

Topic focuses on connection between mental and physical health

Monday, Oct. 8, 2012

On the next Health Three60, host Renee Shaw and guests will explore the impact of depression, stress and anxiety on physical health and look at health care solutions that connect a person’s mind and body. The program premieres Monday, Oct. 8 at 9/8 pm CT on KET.

Stress, anxiety and depression are facts of modern life, and nearly everyone experiences these conditions in one form or another from time to time. This Health Three60 explores how much stress, anxiety and mild depression impacts physical health and how much poor physical health contributes to heightened mental conditions. The program also explores how the current health care system assumes there is no connection between mental and physical health and how that concept is about to change.

In the program’s first segment, “It’s All Connected,” experts lay out the case both empirically and anecdotally for the mind-body connection and explore the evolutionary role of stress. Statistics will be discussed, including the fact that 70 percent of visits to a primary care doctor are psychosocial in nature rather than biological. Panelists will help viewers understand the implications of that surprising statistic.

The next segment, “Finding Balance,” features two women, one who has rheumatoid arthritis and struggles with depression and another who has bi-polar disorder and Hashimoto’s syndrome, a thyroid disorder. Both discuss how they have had to bridge the gap themselves when it came to determining the connection between mental and physical health. Using these stories, panelists discuss treatments and avenues for preserving optimal health and mental health.

The third segment, “Breaking Down the Walls,” looks at the heath care gap for people on the far end of the spectrum: those who suffer with either severe mental illness or severe physical problems. The program visits Pennyroyal Mental Health Center in Hopkinsville to talk about the problems of care integration for the most vulnerable and to look at strategies and visionary plans that are making a difference.