In crisis?Call or text 988 · Call 911 for immediate danger

See all crisis resources →
All resources

Body & Mind · Chronic Illness

Living with chronic illness — the mental health overlay

The U.S. Pain Foundation and Mental Health America on the bidirectional relationship between chronic illness and mental health.

Mental Health America7 min read

People living with chronic physical conditions develop depression and anxiety at roughly two to three times the rate of the general population, and integrated treatment outperforms parallel treatment for both sides.

MHA's overview is practical: how to talk to a physical-health clinician about mood symptoms, how to talk to a mental health clinician about pain or fatigue, and how to find a collaborative-care setting where both happen in one place.

Open at Mental Health America

Mental Hum's library is a curated index of authoritative third-party resources. The summary above is our own framing; the full information lives at the source.

A note on this article

Mental Hum publishes general education, not medical advice. If something here reflects your own experience, please consider speaking to a clinician. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.