Sex Hormones and Mood

Mood change is a symptom of estrogen imbalance, progesterone imbalance, and testosterone imbalance; so sex hormone imbalances can affect mood conditions in any gender, at any time of life.
For women, PMS or PMDD is often associated with depression and anxiety, as well as having mood changes around menopause. Men can have low production of testosterone at any time of life, but particularly during what is known as ‘andropause’, when testosterone naturally declines with age. Other hormone imbalances may affect mood in non-binary people due to unique hormonal expression, or in transgendered individuals due to specific medications or dosing.
Balancing sex hormones is helpful for mood, overall quality of life, and vitality. Additionally, sex hormone imbalances may arise as a result of stress, adrenal imbalances, or thyroid imbalances.
What's Causing Your Depression?



















































































When I say lifestyle, what I mean is the basic requirements of life—food, exercise, sleep, stress, and substance use. In short, it means the way you live—too much excitement or stress, too little sleep, forcing your body to deal with constant alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or poor diet. These contributors are the foundation of the chemistry of your body and mind, and will influence how your brain chemistry operates; and they may contribute to episodes of depression along the way if they are out of balance.
Most of us thrive when we keep our pace of life in the slow to medium range. Unfortunately the modern lifestyle doesn’t make this easy for us, because we are often saturated with responsibilities, work, tasks, information, commutes, and expectations to keep up with the pace of others. Depression can develop when dealing with difficult life situations, especially when the situation is long term.







Neurotransmitters are the main chemical messengers of mood, and they include "uppers", which lift your mood and stimulate excitement and activity, and "downers" which calm and relax. Neurotransmitter imbalances are pivotal treatment areas for mood disorders, and they can be tested and treated individually. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can result from many areas, included genetics, gut health issues, and hormone imbalances in the adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones.
Depression can be a result of several different neurotransmitter imbalances, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The two main branches of depression are serotonin dependent, which presents as a weepy, sad, melancholic 'blues' type of depression; and dopamine/norepinephrine dependent depression, which presents as a tired, lethargic, brain-fogged, and unmotivated type of depression.






Sex Hormones and Mood Mini-Course
Did You Know?
Cortisol, the main stress hormone in the body, is made from the same building blocks as progesterone, so the body will preferentially form cortisol, which leaves the progesterone levels low when under stress. This is called the ‘progesterone shunt’ or ‘progesterone steal’, and it means that women are more susceptible to mood and hormone issues as a result of stress.
Sex hormones enhance the signaling of serotonin, which means that balancing sex hormones improves neurotransmitter effects.
At menopause, when the ovaries stop producing sex hormones, the adrenal glands take over the job of producing small amounts of sex hormones. However, if there is adrenal gland dysfunction, then the sex hormones are not produced correctly, and menopausal symptoms can be more severe.
Anti-Androgens, or “T Blockers”, such as spironolactone and cyproterone acetate can raise cortisol and disrupt the adrenal balance, resulting in mood symptoms.