The psychology of nursing

Psychological issues such as depression and other mental stressors have been found to trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, decreased immunity, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Stressful life events (SLEs) such as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse may cause organic diseases such as cardiac and metabolic complications, higher serum triglyceride, and lower HDL-cholesterol concentrations. On the other hand, chronic medical conditions can disrupt an individual’s psychological well-being. Cardio-metabolic diseases, for example, are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD).¹

The question is: Which one is causing the other? How is the suffering of the mind and body related? There are no simple answers since more and more research is finding a complex two-way relationship between the two. However, nurses can still benefit from an understanding of psychology and the mind-body link.