I once worked with a leader we all admired for his diligence and energy and so when these habits began to decline and Hank started losing 
weight ... people confronted him about his confusing symptoms. “Not a man for going to doctors…” as Hank put it… he made few excuses and kept plodding in spite of our concerns and his obvious depression. Eventually, Hank began to lie down over lunch on staff room coaches … and one day he simply lost his energy to get off the coach to go back to work. An ambulance was called and it turned out that Hank had a highly under-active thyroid.
Other people I know have complained about physical symptoms that created mental problems, and were repeatedly told their problems were all in her head. Some were even referred to see a psychiatrist. One middle aged woman began to suspect she really was imagining her fatigue and discouragement, until it was discovered there was, in fact, a physical explanation for the problems she faced in her mind….
Good news …. Experts are beginning to see and study more serious links between body and mind exchanges. We now know how mental problems can follow at times from alcohol withdrawal, as well as from hypoglycemia, and mental confusion might follow from strokes which go undetected. Luckily there are doctors now trained in the combined illness between mental and physical connections. Once such expert… Dr. Caroline Carney-Doebbeling, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa College of Medicine… advices people in the area of combined illnesses. Check out her work in Michael Alvear’s article, “It’s All in Your head.” In Dr. Carney – Doebbeling’s words: "Pain without an identified source is very real. Science just hasn't advanced to the point it can tell us where it's coming from." Does that mystery describe anybody you know at work…?
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