The Hormone–Mood Connection Every Woman Needs to Know

decconaty
3 days ago
5 min read

What are hormones – and how do they affect our mood in perimenopause?

It’s estimated that 1 in 5 people in the UK experience a common mental health condition such as anxiety or depression and women are more likely to be affected. Hormones play a huge role in this, particularly during perimenopause, when many women feel like they’re on a constant hormonal rollercoaster.

Research has shown a strong link between menopause and mental health challenges, with some studies reporting that perimenopausal women are up to seven times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts compared to women who are pre- or post-menopausal. This is something we need to talk about more openly.

Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers. They’re released from our glands and travel through the bloodstream, delivering instructions to our organs and tissues about how to function properly. Quite simply, without hormones, we wouldn’t function at all.

The important thing to understand is that hormones don’t work in isolation. They’re delicately interconnected, so when just one hormone is out of balance, it can create a knock-on effect. This may show up as mood swings, anxiety, low mood, irritability or a general sense of chaos.

During perimenopause, these imbalances and the emotional ups and downs that come with them can become amplified. You might have days where you feel completely flat and unmotivated, or days where everything feels irritating for no obvious reason.

Recognising that hormones may be playing a role can be incredibly validating. It often allows us to give ourselves a bit of grace and start exploring where the imbalances might be coming from, rather than blaming ourselves.

Hormones that strongly affect our mood

1. Cortisol- our stress hormoneCortisol helps us respond to stress, but for many women it’s running higher and for longer than the body is designed for. Chronic stress can contribute to anxiety, low mood and poor sleep which then makes everything feel harder.

Cortisol is also our dominant hormone. When it’s constantly elevated, it can push other hormones out of balance, triggering a cascade of issues over time. Prolonged stress is inflammatory and exhausting for the body, and we’ll be talking much more about this in the weeks ahead.

2. Thyroid hormone- our metabolic ‘volume control’Thyroid hormone helps turn us up or down. When it’s out of balance, we really feel it. An underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) affects around ten times more women than men, particularly during perimenopause.

Low thyroid function is linked with reduced serotonin, our “feel-good” hormone, which can leave us feeling low, anxious, drained and mentally foggy.

3. Insulin -our blood sugar and fat-storing hormoneInsulin helps bring rising blood sugars back into range. Stress (whether emotional, physical, dietary or even from dehydration or medications) raises blood sugar to give us energy even if we’re not physically moving.

The body can’t tell the difference between running from danger and feeling stressed behind a desk. The result? Blood sugar highs and crashes, which can leave us feeling hangry, exhausted and emotionally fragile, contributing to mood swings.

4. Oestrogen- our mood regulating sex hormoneOestrogen plays a key role in the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and GABA all vital for mood, motivation and calm. It’s also highly sensitive to stress.

When oestrogen levels dip (as they often do during perimenopause), mood can dip too. Low oestrogen is closely linked with anxiety and depression.

5. Progesterone- our calming hormoneProgesterone helps balance oestrogen and has a naturally calming effect. It supports sleep, reduces anxiety and helps stabilise mood. It also plays a role in boosting serotonin and dopamine.

However, when we’re stressed and producing lots of cortisol, the body often makes less progesterone, which can worsen anxiety, disrupt sleep and affect thyroid function, bringing us right back to feeling tired, low and irritable.

6. Melatonin -our sleep hormonePoor sleep is one of the most common struggles I see in perimenopausal women. Melatonin is affected by stress, diet and other hormones, and when sleep suffers, everything feels more overwhelming.

Beyond mood and motivation, chronic sleep deprivation is linked with increased risks of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease, not to mention higher cortisol levels and (yes) more wrinkles!

Why this all matters

Hopefully you can now see just how powerful and interconnected our hormones are, particularly from our mid-30s onwards. When even one hormone is out of balance, it can have a knock-on effect on many others influencing our mood, energy, sleep, confidence and overall quality of life.

Because these changes often happen gradually, it’s not always obvious what’s driving how we feel. This is why tracking your symptoms and noticing patterns or less obvious triggers can be so helpful. Awareness is often the very first step towards change.

To support this, I created Your Perimenopause Survival Guide- a practical, easy-to-use resource designed to help you make sense of what your body is telling you. The guide includes space to track symptoms alongside 20 simple, effective tasks you can start straight away, helping you regain clarity, confidence and a sense of control during perimenopause.

At the clinic, we then build on this foundation by working with you to identify hormonal imbalances in more depth. We use comprehensive questionnaires alongside world-renowned functional testing, allowing us to see exactly what’s happening beneath the surface and create a truly personalised plan to support your health and wellbeing.

How I Can Support You

If you’re wondering whether THRIVE AFTER 35® or 1:1 support is right for you.

I take the time to really understand you. By reviewing your questionnaires, food diaries and any relevant testing (where appropriate), I create a fully personalised plan tailored to your body, your lifestyle and your goals.

This may include foods to increase or reduce, targeted supplements, and realistic lifestyle strategies, all designed to get to the root cause of what’s going on, rather than just masking symptoms. My aim is to help you feel more balanced, energised and like yourself again.

If you’re ready to stop guessing and start feeling better, I’d love to support you. Get in touch to book a call and see how we can work together.

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