Thyroid and Mood
Some of the classic symptoms of low thyroid, or hypothyroidism, are depression, fatigue, constipation, hair loss, weight gain, dry skin, and joint pain. However, the conventional model of medicine does not begin to treat the thyroid until severe symptoms of hypothyroidism have set in, or until the lab number reaches a certain level. Unfortunately, symptoms arise early in that process, especially with mood symptoms and energy levels, and will remain until the thyroid is addressed. Subclinical hypothyroid symptoms can be addressed to help with mood and energy levels well before most general practitioners would address the thyroid as the cause. Thyroid imbalance also has a strong relationship with adrenal hormone imbalance, and a large number of thyroid cases have an autoimmune cause which may also contribute to depression via inflammation.
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.
Thyroid and Mood Mini-Course
Did You Know?
The thyroid requires critical levels of iodine, selenium, iron, and tyrosine in order to produce the active thyroid hormones.
Mold exposure and gluten are two of the highest contributors to thyroid autoimmunity, but autoimmunity may also be triggered by heavy metal exposure, food allergens, and adrenal hormone deficiencies.
Thyroid imbalances may be due to nutritional deficiencies, abnormal thyroid hormone conversion, pituitary abnormalities, destruction of the thyroid gland by autoimmunity, or surgery. You can also have a healthy thyroid, but have hypothyroid symptoms if certain anti-thyroid foods are highly represented in your diet, such as Brassica Vegetables (cabbage, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts), Cassava, or Soy.