[THREAD] let’s talk about how hormonal imbalances can cause mental health symptoms and how to deal with them. The connection between the two is well known and there are many conditions that would affect it such as PCOS.

In those cases, the symptoms would be higher during those periods of hormonal imbalances. The most common mental health issues related to those would be depression and anxiety. We often underestimate the role of hormones in mental health, but they are very important.

They carry messages from our brain to our bodies, activate or deactivate many bodily functions and regular our moods and behaviours. Many studies that PCOS in particular is strongly linked with increased depression and anxiety. The mental health symptoms can also be severe.

Given that PCOS symptoms can last longer than periods, it means that there are many days where the person would have the mental health impact. Furthermore, those frequent changes in mood can in themselves be detrimental to mental health because people may feel helpless.

Mindfulness in the form of deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation has been shown to be helpful. But for some people, treatment will have to be more intensive, especially if the symptoms of depression and anxiety are unmanageable.

Medication can certainly provide that extra support that may be needed to take the edge off the serious mental health symptoms. Therapy can also be helpful in learning to cope with the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Outside of those two, it is important to increase self-care

and externalizing. That means that during those highly stressful periods, self-care is turned on to the maximum, and externalizing about emotions to friends and loved would be highly beneficial as well in terms of providing that support that’s needed.

The biggest barrier to this comprehensive treatment remains ignorance, especially in relation to healthcare professionals. PCOS may require an interdisciplinary team of doctor and therapist who focus on different aspects of the person’s needs.

We also need to change employment laws because by forcing people who are in physical and psychological pain to come to work and be that productive is simply too much to handle and can contribute to further worsening their mental health.

While we still have a long way to go, it may be beneficial to try some of those solutions and see if they help a little bit. Any form of alleviating some of that psychological discomfort can help lead a better quality of life.