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Psychological Symptoms and Thyroid Disorders

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People with thyroid disorders often have emotional or mental health symptoms as well as physical symptoms.

This is especially the case for people with hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid), hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), thyroid related eye disease, or thyroid cancer.

What kind of emotional problems might you experience?

Whatever your type of thyroid disorder, it can make you feel more emotional than you felt before and you may find that your mood changes, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. Common emotional problems are –

  • Anxiety – a feeling of nervousness, racing heart and trembling, or from worries about managing normal daily activities while coping with fatigue and loss of energy
  • Depression – low mood and difficulty enjoying things, tearfulness, loss of appetite and lethargy
  • Mood swings – irritability, snappiness or short-temper

What about mental wellbeing problems?

Cognitive or processing problems that can occur, most often with thyroid underactivity, include –

  • Difficulties with concentration (brain fog)
  • Short-term memory lapses
  • Lack of interest and mental alertness

 

These symptoms can cause some people to worry about permanent memory failure often associated with dementia but in fact they are rarely as severe as seen in dementia.

What causes the psychological symptoms?

Abnormal thyroid hormone levels can sometimes cause these symptoms. In particular, rapid changes in thyroid hormone levels, can unsettle your emotions. With hyperthyroidism especially, rapid and effective control of the thyroid levels is essential to stabilise the mood, and it is important to make sure that the thyroid levels remain stable.

Sometimes psychological symptoms are a side-effect of the treatment. For example, beta blockers, sometimes prescribed if you are hyperthyroid, to slow down your heart rate and reduce anxiety, can make some people feel tired, depressed, and mentally less alert. If you are prescribed steroids, these can aggravate depression.

A thyroid disorder can also cause changes in appearance, for example, facial changes due to thyroid eye disease, weight loss or gain, and hair loss. These changes can be upsetting and contribute to feelings of low self-esteem or low mood.

It is unclear whether stressful life events trigger thyroid disease. However stress can aggravate symptoms that are caused by a thyroid condition and make them much worse and take longer to settle. Learning that you have thyroid cancer is stressful.

It is understandable and not unusual to have an emotional reaction before, during, or after treatment. In some patients, this can trigger trauma. Symptoms may include flashbacks, feeling emotionally numb, having difficulty sleeping or concentrating, feeling jumpy or frightened and feeling cut off from those around you. These can all severely affect your daily life. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please discuss them with your doctor so they can identify the right support for you.

Sometimes it can take a while for thyroid medication to become properly balanced, especially with hypothyroidism and following thyroid surgery. Coping with symptoms while medication is adjusted (particularly fatigue and lack of energy) may impact on your mental wellbeing. Learning to manage your energy levels, gentle exercise and incorporating relaxation activities can all help to improve wellbeing. 

Forgetting to take your medication can also be a factor. Some people lose motivation when it comes to daily tablet-taking or attending clinics. However, taking tablets irregularly can upset your hormone balance and aggravate the psychological symptoms.

It is also possible that other factors are contributing to your symptoms, so it is always important to look at all things that may be affecting your emotional wellbeing, such as, feeling misunderstood by others or socially isolated, not able to do valued activities, problems at work, problems with finance. 

Over and underactivity of the thyroid may put a strain on personal relationships. Once the conditions have been stabilised and treated, your emotional state and relationships are likely to improve. 

What about Treatment?

Fortunately, in the great majority of cases, if the thyroid is the cause of the problem, psychological symptoms will improve as the thyroid disorder is brought under control by treatment. But this improvement may not be as rapid as you hope, and it is common for people to feel emotionally and mentally “not quite right’”or “out of sorts’” for some time even after their blood tests return to normal. But remember, there are lots of people who can help –

  • Talk to your doctor or health care practitioner like Balanced Healing
  • Ask to see a specialist with experience in dealing with thyroid disorders
  • Confide in a family member or close friend who may be able to help you through this difficult time
  • Talk to others who have been through a similar experience  

Do not feel awkward or embarrassed about talking to your doctor or health care practitioner about the psychological symptoms associated with your thyroid disorder. They could be associated with your thyroid levels.

Ask as many questions as you need to understand what is happening to you.

Reference

Website – https://www.btf-thyroid.org/psychological-symptoms-and-thyroid-disorders