How Your Endocrine System Affects Your Mental Health

Close

We often associatehormoneswith physical changes in our bodies. However, they play a major role in regulating our moods and emotions as well, saysJennifer Dragonette, PsyD, clinical services instructor at Newport Healthcare.

Hormonal changes or disorders can cause you to experience irritability, stress, mood swings, anxiety, and depression, according to Dr. Dragonette.

In this article, we explore how hormones and the endocrine system affect mental health. We also suggest some tips that can help you maintain a healthy endocrine system.

What Does the Endocrine System Do?

Theendocrine systemis an intricate system of glands and organs that uses hormones to control and coordinate several bodily functions.

The major endocrine glands are the thyroid, pituitary, pineal, thymus, and adrenal glands, along with the pancreas, testes, and ovaries.These glands produce hormones, which are chemical messengers that carry signals all over your body and coordinate your bodily functions.

These are some of the bodily functions the endocrine system controls:

Hormones are powerful chemicals, so even small imbalances can cause major changes in your body.

Hormones and Mental Health

While there are several types of hormones, there are some of the hormones that play an important role in regulating mental health:

Other hormones, such as thyroid hormonesand sex hormonescan also affect your mental health.

What Are Endorphins?

How the Endocrine System Responds to Stressors

When your brain detects a physically or emotionally threatening situation, it triggers the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, in order to give your body additional resources it might need to endure significant discomfort or strain, says Dr. Dragonette. This is known as thefight-or-flight response.

This burst of hormones triggers other physiological processes that are designed to help you survive, such as:

A small amount ofstress can be helpful, because it can help you avoid danger or meet an important deadline.When your brain senses that the situation has safely passed, your parasympathetic nervous system takes over and calms you down, allowing your body to rest and digest, says Dr. Dragonette.

However, if you are chronically stressed, this hormonal and physiological response can be harmful, putting you at risk of developing health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, skin problems, and menstrual irregularities.

Hormones like cortisol and adrenaline can also cause you to feel jittery, panicky, or agitated, says Dr. Dragonette. In addition to physical health conditions,chronic stresscan also lead to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

How Stress Affects the Endocrine System

The ultimate goal of the endocrine system is to maintain a balanced state of hormones in the body, says Dr. Dragonette. “When we are stressed and the balance is lost, the endocrine glands have to work overtime to restore it. During these times of hormonal imbalance, you may experience various bodily changes, including mental health symptoms.”

Endocrine Disorders and Mental Health

According to Dr. Dragonette, there are many examples of endocrine disorders or hormonal imbalances that can affect mental health, such as:

Many of the hormonal changes we experience in life, including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause, affect our emotions and overall mental well-being, says Dr. Dragonette.

Treating Endocrine Disorders

Treatment for endocrine disorders can vary depending on the type of disorder. According to Dr. Dragonette, treatment may involve:

How Hormones Play a Role in Social Anxiety

Tips for a Healthy Endocrine System

These are some strategies that can help you maintain a healthy endocrine system:

Alcohol and Hormones: What’s the Connection?

12 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Anatomy of the endocrine system.National Library of Medicine.Hormones.Cleveland Clinic.Hormones.Kamble MT, Nandedkar PD, Dharme PV, L LS, Bhosale PG.Thyroid function and mental disorders: an insight into the complex interaction.J Clin Diagn Res. 2013;7(1):11-14. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2012/4861.2656Kundakovic M, Rocks D.Sex hormone fluctuation and increased female risk for depression and anxiety disorders: From clinical evidence to molecular mechanisms.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2022;66:101010. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101010Harvard Medical School.Understanding the stress response.National Library of Medicine.Stress and your health.British Thyroid Foundation.Psychological symptoms and thyroid disorders.Herson M, Kulkarni J.Hormonal agents for the treatment of depression associated with the menopause.Drugs Aging. 2022;39(8):607-618. doi:10.1007/s40266-022-00962-xNational Health Service.Levothyroxine.National Health Service.Hormone replacement therapy.Nemours Foundation.Endocrine system.

12 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Anatomy of the endocrine system.National Library of Medicine.Hormones.Cleveland Clinic.Hormones.Kamble MT, Nandedkar PD, Dharme PV, L LS, Bhosale PG.Thyroid function and mental disorders: an insight into the complex interaction.J Clin Diagn Res. 2013;7(1):11-14. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2012/4861.2656Kundakovic M, Rocks D.Sex hormone fluctuation and increased female risk for depression and anxiety disorders: From clinical evidence to molecular mechanisms.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2022;66:101010. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101010Harvard Medical School.Understanding the stress response.National Library of Medicine.Stress and your health.British Thyroid Foundation.Psychological symptoms and thyroid disorders.Herson M, Kulkarni J.Hormonal agents for the treatment of depression associated with the menopause.Drugs Aging. 2022;39(8):607-618. doi:10.1007/s40266-022-00962-xNational Health Service.Levothyroxine.National Health Service.Hormone replacement therapy.Nemours Foundation.Endocrine system.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Anatomy of the endocrine system.National Library of Medicine.Hormones.Cleveland Clinic.Hormones.Kamble MT, Nandedkar PD, Dharme PV, L LS, Bhosale PG.Thyroid function and mental disorders: an insight into the complex interaction.J Clin Diagn Res. 2013;7(1):11-14. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2012/4861.2656Kundakovic M, Rocks D.Sex hormone fluctuation and increased female risk for depression and anxiety disorders: From clinical evidence to molecular mechanisms.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2022;66:101010. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101010Harvard Medical School.Understanding the stress response.National Library of Medicine.Stress and your health.British Thyroid Foundation.Psychological symptoms and thyroid disorders.Herson M, Kulkarni J.Hormonal agents for the treatment of depression associated with the menopause.Drugs Aging. 2022;39(8):607-618. doi:10.1007/s40266-022-00962-xNational Health Service.Levothyroxine.National Health Service.Hormone replacement therapy.Nemours Foundation.Endocrine system.

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Anatomy of the endocrine system.

National Library of Medicine.Hormones.

Cleveland Clinic.Hormones.

Kamble MT, Nandedkar PD, Dharme PV, L LS, Bhosale PG.Thyroid function and mental disorders: an insight into the complex interaction.J Clin Diagn Res. 2013;7(1):11-14. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2012/4861.2656

Kundakovic M, Rocks D.Sex hormone fluctuation and increased female risk for depression and anxiety disorders: From clinical evidence to molecular mechanisms.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2022;66:101010. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101010

Harvard Medical School.Understanding the stress response.

National Library of Medicine.Stress and your health.

British Thyroid Foundation.Psychological symptoms and thyroid disorders.

Herson M, Kulkarni J.Hormonal agents for the treatment of depression associated with the menopause.Drugs Aging. 2022;39(8):607-618. doi:10.1007/s40266-022-00962-x

National Health Service.Levothyroxine.

National Health Service.Hormone replacement therapy.

Nemours Foundation.Endocrine system.

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?