How does estrogen impact mental health?

Women with high estrogen tend to experience irritability, increased anxiety, and a have a low tolerance for stress.

Let’s talk about why.

In a God designed woman, estrogen levels in the brain and body impact our levels of norepinephrine + dopamine, which are two neurotransmitters that are involved in mood balance.

Norepinephrine:

• Influences stress and anxiety, “Fight or Flight”, but also alertness and energy.

Dopamine:

• Influences mood, reward, pleasure, but also aggression, irritability, impulsivity and psychosis.

Our body has a built in capacity to recycle these neurotransmitters to keep us in balance.

This pathway is called the COMT pathway. Our individual COMT pathways work differently in each of our bodies. Some of us have slower COMT genes, and the slower this pathway is, the longer it takes to recycle dopamine + norpinephrine. In every woman, this pathway is highly influenced by genetics, nutrient deficiencies, chronic stress, + other lifestyle factors. But one big influencer is estrogen. If you have estrogen dominance for example, estrogen slows the process down by 30%. This results in higher levels of these neurotransmitters + symptoms like: irritability + anxiety.

In severe cases, some women can experience prementstrual dysphoria disorder (PMDD) resulting from abnormally high brain levels of dopamine + norepinephrine due to the high estrogen. On the flip side, some of us have a fast COMT pathway and the faster this pathway is, the faster dopamine + norpinephrine is recycled and it can result in low mood + depression (especially the week before your bleed).

In every woman, this pathway is highly influenced by methylation, genetics, nutrient deficiencies, chronic stress, + other lifestyle factors.

Which is why supporting the bodies natural capacity to maintain balance is so crucial. And this is also why addressing mental health issues should always include treating the body as a whole, because it is truly interconnected.

Learn how inside our Functional Wellness Membership!

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25466290/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27680324/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000407/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684895/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/catechol-o-methyltransferase