Peek Under the Hood
MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH UPDATE
Your body is the vehicle that drives you through life. Like your Honda, it requires periodic maintenance: the occasional oil change, tire rotation, battery recharge, and sudsy wash.
Have you checked in with your parts lately?
Is your metaphorical (and actual) car like mine where I routinely discover sand, grit, chewing gum wrappers, bottle tops, and—oh, the earring I’ve been missing!!!—between the seats? Is one tire under-inflated, making the entire car go “whomp whomp” down the highway? Is your muffler rattling? Have you peeked under the hood lately?
If not, consider taking a survey of your physical self. Start at the top, work your way down from head to toe, and take some notes.
Notice how your eyes feel after a day on Zoom. Slowly turn your head all the way to the right then all the way to the left. Gently open and close your mouth. Shrug and release your shoulders. Are your neck and jaw muscles tight? Are your shoulders hiked up to your ears? Does your chest ache, belly gurgle, or back seize up? Do your joints swell and click and moan? Have you taken a look-see at your poop lately? And what the hell is that rash??
It’s time to take stock of what’s going on in your body. It may also be time for a weekend car wash. (Pictured here are my husband and sons doing just that on Labor Day 2005.)
Six months into the pandemic, our bodies are taking notice. They’ve dutifully ferried us along as their owners have stalled out on exercise and flooded our engines with caffeine, alcohol, and take-out dinners.
And some bodies are waving the white flag.
Let’s zoom forward to spring 2021 for a minute. The worst of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be behind us. By then, we’ll have a much better understanding of the virus, widespread testing capabilities, a vaccine, and some semblance of normalcy. I CAN’T WAIT. You?
And as a physician, I can pretty well predict what my waiting room will look like in spring 2021. After a year under the tyranny of COVID-19, every patient will have a story to tell, a roadtrip to report on. Let’s be real: most patients will be struggling in one way or another. They will be wrestling with some version of sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, grief, and/or relationship stress. Alcohol and other substance use will have escalated for many. And as a result for many people, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes markers will be up. Heart disease, arthritis, gastrointestinal issues, and myriad other chronic illnesses likely will be flaring.
(Of course some patients will be healthier post-pandemic, having connected the dots between mental and physical health and wielded some control over their medical outcomes. Indeed that’s my goal for every patient I see! But in reality, most of us don’t have the luxury of making good in a global crisis.)
I’ve been talking a lot about mental health since March. Why? Because our mental health not only affects how we feel every day; it governs our relationship to everything from food and alcohol to other people, our work, and our own bodies.
So why am I in the business of mental health? Because mental health also affects us physically. At the end of the road of a global pandemic, the emotional potholes, roadblocks, and engine failures will directly affect medical outcomes.
So LET’S THINK NOW about preventing the down-the-road effects of stress and anxiety on our physical selves.
Where to start?
Begin with awareness. Notice how stress and anxiety affect your body. (I promise you it does.) Can you locate it?
Connect the dots. Does your neck tense up when you read the news? Does your heart pound when you’ve worked too much, eaten too little? Is your digestion smoother when you’ve made time for exercise and brain rest? How do caffeine and alcohol affect your sleep, energy, and mood?
Document your current coping tools. Whether you know it or not, you’ve developed ways to manage stress. Is it by taking a long walk? Cuddling with your pet? Watching SNL reruns of Kate McKinnon in bed (my fave)? Calling a trusted friend?
Fuel up. The pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, so add some coping skills, and double down on your existing ones. Get rest. Take breaks. Feed yourself well. Move your body. Try something new/fun/silly/unexpected. Make yourself and others laugh. (And tell me what it is!)
Check in with your doctor. Bring your knowledge about your own body and bounce it off a pro. Make a game plan. Set simple, achievable goals to get back in the driver’s seat. Expect to hit some potholes. And keep going.
We can no longer ignore the pandemic’s toll on our bodies and minds. So take a pit-stop this weekend. Reflect on where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’d like to go. And remember you have more control over your health than you think you do!
Next week we’ll dive into some PRACTICAL TOOLS to keep your motor running.
Until then, be well.