When your hormones are out of balance, it’s not just your physical health that can be affected – it can have a significant impact on your mental health too, including your ability to regulate your thoughts.
There are 223.3 million posts relating to ‘overthinking’ on TikTok, and according to Google trend data, searches for “stop overthinking” have risen by 227% in the last month.
Hormone health expert Mike Kocsis at Balance My Hormones reveals why your hormones could be to blame for your rumination, and how to stop your serial overthinking.
OESTROGEN
Oestrogen plays an important role in mood regulation; the most well-known example of this is PMS, where the dip in oestrogen before menstruation causes emotional mood swings, irritability, and difficulty concentrating, which can lead to an increase in overthinking. During perimenopause and menopause, oestrogen levels decline significantly, which can lead to symptoms like anxiety and depression – and these hormonal shifts can make it harder to control intrusive thoughts, overthinking, and rumination (dwelling on negative thoughts). If you haven’t always been an overthinker, and the tendency to ruminate started at around the time you started perimenopause or menopause, it could be a sign that it’s down to your hormones.
SEROTONIN
Serotonin, the ‘happy hormone’, regulates your mood and sleep pattern, and when serotonin levels drop, you can experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue, and rumination. Rumination is the act of fixating on negative thoughts, emotions, and experiences – playing them over and over in your head. Low serotonin levels can make it harder for your brain to let go of negative thoughts, creating a vicious cycle of overthinking and unhappiness.
PROGESTERONE
Progesterone influences neurotransmitters in the brain, like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA has a calming effect on the brain, and progesterone binds to GABA receptors which enhances this effect – but when levels of progesterone fluctuate during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause, the calming effect is disrupted. This can cause mood swings, depression, and anxiety, and the drop in progesterone can also cause cognitive symptoms like brain fog and memory issues, contributing to the overthinking cycle.
CORTISOL
Cortisol regulates your body’s stress responses. It’s released after ‘fight or flight’ hormones like adrenaline, so you can continue to be on high alert and be able to respond to danger. However, if you experience chronic stress, your cortisol levels will constantly be heightened, and this can cause difficulty sleeping, a weakened immune system, and overthinking. It can make you hyperaware of potential threats – both real and imagined – and it can make it difficult for your brain to switch off and let go of worries. Cortisol can also affect your prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for critical thinking and emotional regulation, making it harder to put your negative thoughts and overthinking into perspective.
OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin promotes feelings of calmness and trust – it’s the hormone your brain emits when you’re bonding with your friends or falling in love. While the ‘love hormone’ can reduce anxiety, it can also intensify memories, especially stressful ones; if you have an argument with your partner or your best friend, oxytocin can strengthen that memory and make you more likely to replay it in your mind and ruminate on the negativity.
HOW CAN I TELL IF IT’S HORMONAL, NOT JUST STANDARD OVERTHINKING?
Overthinking due to hormones is often more persistent and intense than everyday worrying, consuming your thoughts for hours or even days, rather than coming and going depending on the situation. If the overthinking becomes overwhelming, and difficult to manage with techniques that usually help, it could be a sign that your hormones playing a part.
Track your symptoms, including what you’re overthinking about, what triggered it, and any other symptoms you’re experiencing. Talk to your doctor, who will be able to assess if it’s a hormonal issue – from hormone panel blood tests and thyroid function tests to psychological tests that can help rule out things like anxiety, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
CAN I STOP HORMONAL OVERTHINKING?
Once your doctor has assessed your hormone levels, they might recommend Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Combined HRT includes both oestrogens and progestogens (or oestrogen only, if you’ve had a hysterectomy) to raise the levels of these hormones in your body, and this can address symptoms of anxiety, improve mood regulation, and reduce overthinking.
But if HRT isn’t suitable, there are other options and things that can help.
· Mindfulness practices, like meditation and deep breathing when you feel triggered, can help calm the mind, and can prevent you from going into an overthinking spiral.
· Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) strategies that a therapist can teach you can help you identify negative thought patterns that lead to overthinking, and writing down your worries and concerns in a journal could help you gain perspective and end the cycle of overthinking.
· Avoiding caffeine and alcohol could be helpful. Caffeine is a stimulant that can increase your heart rate, leading to feeling of anxiety and making it harder for your mind to relax. Alcohol can initially have the opposite effect and make you feel more relaxed, but as it wears off, it can disrupt your sleep and lead to ‘hangxiety’, making you overthink everything you did and said the previous night.
· Studies have suggested that low levels of vitamin D could be linked to mood swings and anxiety, and other studies suggest that if the brain is lacking omega-3s, it could induce behavioural and psychiatric disorders, so supplements could potentially reduce anxiety symptoms that are leading to overthinking.
· Regular exercise can help your body release endorphins, the ‘feel good’ hormones, which fight against stress hormones like cortisol and have mood-boosting effects. Exercise increases blood flow throughout the body, including to the adrenal glands and ovaries; this improved circulation can support the production and raise the levels of hormones like oestrogen and progesterone.
