Many common illnesses seen by GPs and consultants are related to stress and other mental health problems, a leading psychiatrist has warned.

According to Prof Jim Lucey, medical director at St Patrick's Mental Health Services in Dublin, as many as one in five of all physical complaints which Irish people attend their doctor for are either directly, or at least partly, related to mental health issues.

"We have discovered that many common physiological symptoms such as muscle aches, joint pains, headaches, chronic fatigue and even dental pain can be caused or part caused by mental health problems," Prof Lucey said.

He insisted that greater awareness of mental health issues among doctors in Ireland, along with a greater willingness to bring up these issues with patients, could help eliminate as much as 10% of physiological problems from Irish patients.

Such an approach would discourage the use of ineffective and long treatments that do not actually tackle the root of the problem, Prof Lucey said.

He made his comments ahead of the autumn meeting of the Irish Society of Rheumatology in Trim, Co Meath.

Rheumatology is a specialty that focuses on helping people with disorders of their muscles, tendons, bones, joints and connective tissues. Such disorders include arthritis, lupus and scleroderma.

"We need to work towards a climate in primary care where rheumatology and psychiatry become more closely involved. If Irish doctors were better able to raise the mental health issues with their patients and shied away from it less often, then we could better treat a great number of physical conditions which don't immediately suggest a mental health problem," Prof Lucey explained.

He said that there is evidence to suggest that as many as 10% of physiological problems could be eliminated ‘if the right patients are referred for the right treatments'.

"These don't necessarily always require expensive consultations and the solution might even be the sort of ‘mindfulness' training which typically costs a few euro an hour at community centres around Ireland,' he pointed out.

Prof Lucey said that while doctors are becoming more aware of mental health issues, ‘they often do not engage the patient on the subject and get that issue sorted out'.

"There is often a reluctance to do this based on the perceived sensitivity of the patient. However times have moved on and attitudes to mental health and depression have changed. The way to do this is for doctors to say - this is what is causing your pain and this is how we should treat it," he added.

For more information on depression, see our Depression Clinic here