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Mental health is the health of the whole body: How psychoneuroimmunology & health psychology can inform & improve treatment
Author(s) -
Alessi Maria G.,
Bennett Jeanette M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.13386
Subject(s) - psychoneuroimmunology , mental health , subclinical infection , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , anxiety , psychiatry , mental illness , health care , depression (economics) , medicine , psychology , population , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , immune system , immunology , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics , economic growth
Background Converging and accumulating evidence for the cross‐communication among the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems, a field of study known as psychoneuroimmunology, implicates immunological dysfunction as a shared and common mechanism of both mental and physical illness. For example, psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders have higher prevalence rates across a spectrum of autoimmune conditions compared to the general population. Additionally, subclinical immunological abnormalities are observed in a variety of psychiatric conditions, with chronic inflammation most extensively studied in the pathophysiology of depression. These observations blur the historical distinctions between mental and physical illness, yet clinical practice remains fragmented and primarily focused on differentially treating individual symptoms. Proposed thesis Therapeutically targeting inflammation offers translational opportunities for integrating mental and physical healthcare, a key niche of the interdisciplinary field of health psychology. Conclusion Utilizing a psychoneuroimmunological lens, health psychologists and clinicians can reconceptualize healthcare through integrative treatment approaches and advocacy for comprehensive policy‐level reform at both the individual‐level of care as well as community‐wide prevention approaches.