Mental + Physical Health Connection: 11 Ways the Body Can Support Depression Recovery

Depression is often treated as if it exists only in the mind. But in this episode of the Giving Voice to Depression podcast, host Terry McGuire—joined by Dr. Anita Sanz—explores how deeply mental and physical health are connected through a conversation with wellness expert Darin Olien.

This article is a summary of a conversation from the Giving Voice to Depression podcast hosted by Terry McGuire.

Darin brings both professional insight and personal experience to the discussion, sharing how depression has affected his parents, how grief shaped his own life, and how lifestyle factors like nutrition, sleep, and stress can either support or strain mental health.

The tone of the conversation is realistic, compassionate, and grounded. There are no quick fixes here—just honest reflections and practical reminders that the brain lives in the body, and the body deserves care too.

1. Mental health is health

When people talk about “health,” they usually mean the whole body—except the brain. Digestive health, heart health, and respiratory health are all considered part of overall wellness, but mental health is often treated as a separate category.

Terry challenges that outdated idea early in the episode. If the mind is struggling, the whole person is struggling. And when the body is depleted, it becomes even harder to feel emotionally steady.

This sets the foundation for the entire conversation: depression is real, and the body plays a meaningful role in how heavy it feels.

2. Depression affects many people

When Terry asks Darin if he has personal experience with depression, Darin doesn’t hesitate. He describes how his father struggled before he passed away and how his mother recently experienced severe depression for the first time in her life.

As Darin reflected:

I think… on the spectrum, we’re all dealing with it (depression). I don’t think any of us escape it totally.

He explains that depression can be difficult to recognize—especially when it develops slowly. Sometimes people don’t realize how deeply they’re struggling until others begin to notice changes in their behavior, energy, or emotional state.

This perspective doesn’t minimize clinical depression. Instead, it acknowledges how common emotional pain is—and how easily it can hide in plain sight.

3. The body influences mood

One of Darin’s clearest points is that physical health and mental health are inseparable. When the body is exhausted, inflamed, or undernourished, it becomes harder to maintain emotional balance.

As Darin explained:

When your body is depressed, literally, physiologically, biologically, chemically, it’s really hard to have a good mindset, it is really hard to live a great life.

This isn’t about blaming people for their depression. It’s about recognizing that the body can either support recovery or make everything feel heavier.

Depression already drains energy, motivation, and hope. If the body is also struggling, the emotional weight can feel even more overwhelming. Supporting physical health doesn’t replace therapy or medication—it simply gives the mind a better environment to heal.

4. Grief needs movement

Darin shares one of the most difficult experiences of his life: losing his Malibu home in the 2018 California wildfires while he was out of the country filming. The loss wasn’t just emotional—it was prolonged, stressful, and mentally exhausting.

He describes the rebuilding process as “crazy making,” forcing him to confront his own impatience and emotional limits. The loss lingered far longer than he expected, reminding him that grief doesn’t follow a neat timeline.

What stands out most is how he talks about grief—not as something to suppress, but something to allow.

As Darin shared:

Let yourself grieve. Let yourself feel… anger and fear and sadness… Every person that’s suffering anything it takes courage to kind of go through it all and feel it all.

He explains that grief needs to move through the body. When emotions are allowed to flow instead of being trapped inside, they create space for healing, imagination, and new beginnings. Suppressing grief doesn’t make it disappear—it only makes it heavier.

5. Processed food impacts mental health

Darin explains how the standard American diet—heavy in ultra-processed foods—can affect more than just physical health. It can influence gut function, hormones, energy levels, and mood.

As Darin noted:

Where your body goes, your brain goes, right? So it’s a very interesting tangled web.

He describes how poor nutrition can disrupt the microbiome, affect dopamine production, and leave people feeling disconnected from themselves. When the body lacks proper fuel, the brain struggles to regulate emotion and energy.

Terry quickly clarifies that depression isn’t caused only by diet. Darin agrees. Trauma, stress, genetics, and brain chemistry all matter. But nutrition is one factor people often underestimate.

Supporting the body doesn’t cure depression—but it can reduce unnecessary strain.

6. Healing needs many tools

Darin emphasizes that depression is rarely caused by a single factor. Most people carry unresolved pain, trauma, or stress that shapes how they experience the world.

As Darin explained:

I think everything has a stem of an unresolved pain, an unresolved trauma… We all have traumas, all of us, every one of us. You don’t get out of this life without them.

Because healing is complex, support needs to be layered. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

Helpful supports may include:

• Therapy
• Community and family
• Medication when needed
• Nutritional care
• Reducing harmful exposures

As Darin added:

We need support, we need community support, we need family support, we need professional support, we need sometimes medication support, for sure.

Recovery isn’t about perfection. It’s about using the tools that help you move forward.

7. Help is not weakness

Terry brings up the stigma many people—especially men—feel around therapy. For some, it’s the only place they can speak honestly about their struggles.

Darin strongly pushes back against the idea that needing help is a flaw.

As Darin insisted:

We just need to continue to be the excavators and the advocates for our own health and healing and shouldn’t be ashamed of it at all.

He encourages radical honesty—with yourself and with others. Letting pressure out, instead of carrying it alone, can be a powerful step toward healing.

Support isn’t a sign of failure. It’s a sign of self-respect.

8. Listening is powerful

Darin recalls one of his earliest lessons from studying psychology: the healing power of active listening.

Not fixing.
Not advising.
Just being present.

As Darin remembered:

You’re not saying anything but you’re actively listening… And the power in that is so immense for our health and wellbeing.

For people living with depression, feeling heard can be more healing than hearing solutions. Presence communicates safety, validation, and care.

Support doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it just looks like staying, listening, and caring.

9. Community breaks isolation

Darin shares that he’s been part of a men’s group for years. It’s facilitated by a licensed therapist, but the real strength comes from peer honesty and accountability.

In that space, people recognize each other’s patterns, offer feedback, and create safety for emotional honesty.

As Darin explained:

You can’t bullshit yourself when you have all these mirrors around you.

Community helps people see themselves clearly—and reminds them they’re not alone.

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in connection.

10. Trauma shapes identity

Darin talks about how painful experiences can turn into false beliefs about who we are. When someone is hurt, abused, or neglected, they may internalize that pain as identity.

But healing can loosen that grip.

As Darin observed:

When we get to see the pain and forgive ourselves and others, oftentimes it can lead to a great gift as well.

Forgiveness doesn’t erase what happened. But it can free people from carrying pain that was never theirs to hold.

Sometimes healing reveals strength people didn’t know they had.

11. Focus on controllables

Dr. Anita Sanz connects Darin’s wellness approach to what many clinicians emphasize in therapy: focus on what you can control.

As Dr. Sanz explained:

Let’s look at your nutrition, let’s look at your sleep, let’s look at your activity, let’s look at your stress management.

She also offers a hopeful reminder about genetics.

As Dr. Sanz clarified:

You’ve got some wiggle room in the way that that genetic predisposition manifests in your life.

Genetics matter—but lifestyle choices can influence how symptoms show up and how intense they feel.

Two gentle starting points

A) Choose whole foods
Apples, oranges, dates, berries, bananas

B) Hydrate first

As Darin emphasized:

The number one side effect, by far, of dehydration is a lack of energy.

Small steps can support the body without overwhelming the mind.

12. Key takeaways to remember

This episode offers both emotional reassurance and practical guidance. The biggest lessons aren’t about perfection—they’re about progress, compassion, and support.

Here are the most important takeaways:

• Mental health is part of overall health.
  The brain doesn’t exist outside the body. Physical wellness affects emotional resilience.
• Depression is common and complex.
  Many people experience it in different forms, often without realizing how deeply it’s affecting them.
• The body can support healing.
  Nutrition, hydration, sleep, and movement don’t replace therapy—but they can make recovery easier.
• Grief needs space to move.
  Suppressing emotions can make pain linger longer. Allowing feelings helps them pass through.
• Support is essential, not optional.
  Therapy, community, and professional help are tools for strength, not signs of weakness.
• Listening is healing.
  Being present without fixing can be more powerful than offering advice.
• Trauma doesn’t define identity.
  Healing can help people release false beliefs formed through pain.
• Small steps still count.
  Even simple choices—like drinking water or eating fruit—can support the body and mind.

These takeaways reinforce one central truth: recovery doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful.

13. Final thoughts on healing

The conversation between Terry McGuire, Dr. Anita Sanz, and Darin Olien reminds listeners of something essential: depression is real, difficult, and deeply human—but it doesn’t have to be faced alone.

Darin’s message isn’t about forcing positivity or pretending pain doesn’t exist. It’s about giving people permission to care for themselves without shame, to seek help without apology, and to believe that change is possible even when the path forward feels unclear.

As Darin urged:

Please, get help… This is your life… So let’s go. Let’s get some help.

And when hope feels distant, he offers something gentle instead of demanding: the ability to dream.

As Darin reflected:

Giving yourself the ability to dream is a hell of a way to start.

Dr. Sanz reinforces the same idea:

You don’t have to know how you’re going to get better to begin.

Healing doesn’t require certainty—just willingness.

Sometimes the bravest step isn’t knowing the destination. It’s simply deciding to keep going.