How do I know my mental health hasn’t been the best recently–because I’m home right now with a cold.

Here’s the thing, physical health and mental health are closely linked, even if people don’t always recognize that fact. I take good physical care of myself–I exercise, I eat well, I try to make sure I get enough sleep–in other words, my immune system should be in good shape, since those are the things you need to do to remain physically healthy.

But since this last bout of depression, I’ve gotten a cold or the flu about twice a year. Why? Because mental health has a huge affect upon physical health.

Stress, anger, frustration, all of these things affect the immune system negatively, and when subjected to high levels of these stressors for a long period of time, the body often reacts by getting sick.

To be honest, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten sick sooner than this–I’ve been under a lot of stress this summer. I’ve tried to deal with it in a healthy manner, but apparently it got the better of me. So now I’m sitting at home feeling awful, which is my body’s way of saying, “slow the hell down!”

OK body. I heard you. I’ve slept about 18 of the last 24 hours. I realize that my manner of dealing with the stress in my life has not been productive. But I’ve changed my anti-depressant and will make sure I exercise every week day.

So can I go back to being healthy now? Because this laid up with a cold thing really sucks.