When Hormones Stir the Mind: Navigating Hormonal Transitions

Thanks for joining us for part one of our two part series: How Hormones Stir the Mind: Navigating Hormonal Transitions. We are looking forward to delving into this topic with you.

If you've ever felt like your moods shift with your cycle, or that you became a different version of yourself after having a baby or entering menopause—you’re not imagining it. Women’s hormones, especially estrogen and progesterone, play a powerful role in shaping emotional, mental, and cognitive well-being.

Let’s talk about the mind-body connection you can’t see, but can definitely feel.

Why Hormones Matter for Mental Health

Hormonal fluctuations aren’t just about physical changes—they directly impact brain chemistry. Estrogen helps regulate neurotransmitters that affect how we think, feel, and cope. These neurotransmitters include serotonin, which is linked to mood and emotional stability; dopamine, which impacts motivation and pleasure; and GABA, a calming chemical that helps manage anxiety.

The Hormone Progesterone and its metabolites also influence mood, often through their calming effects, much like GABA. However, the natural drop in progesterone that happens before a period or after childbirth can lead to feelings of sadness, anxiety, or irritability, in sensitive individuals.

When Hormonal Changes Are Most Impactful

Certain phases of life are especially vulnerable to hormone-driven mood changes, such as the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and postpartum, and the transition into menopause (perimenopause). During these times, hormones rise, fall, or swing rapidly—and some women are especially sensitive to these shifts.

Menarch, pregnancy, and peri-menopause are all profound thresholds - womanhood, motherhood and elderhood. While we have understood intuitively for some time that these transitions marked times when a woman’s hormones necessarily go through drastic shifts, we are only recently starting to understand the sheer magnitude of the neural rewiring and synaptic pruning that happens during this time. When a woman comes out of the other side of these transitions, she will have  -quite literally- a completely different brain than she did before. (Haraguchi et. al 2012)

Symptomatically, each woman’s experience of this will be unique. Some may cruise through neural pruning with very little notice of the event while others may be troubled by symptoms that can only be described as extreme. But sensitivity to these drastic surges of hormones is what underlies conditions like premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), postpartum depression and anxiety, and perimenopausal mood disorders. These aren’t just “mood swings.” Depression, anxiety, brain fog, insomnia, or even psychosis—they are biologically rooted mental health challenges.

You’re Not Alone—and You Deserve Support that is Tailored to You

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, emotionally flat, anxious for no clear reason, or just unlike yourself during these hormonal transitions—you are not alone. Many women suffer in silence, thinking they should be able to “push through.” But these are real, treatable conditions. You deserve care that sees the full picture.

We’re Here to Help

At Something Human Mental Health, we understand the complex relationship between hormones and mental health. Whether you’re struggling with PMDD, perinatal mood changes, or the emotional rollercoaster of perimenopause, we’re here to support you with compassionate, evidence-based care.

Join us next week as we delve into what to keep in mind as you weigh your options for treatment. 

Reach out today on our Contact Us to schedule a consultation.

Tammy Johnson is a PMHNP at Something Human Mental Health. Along with her many interests, she has gone on to receive extra training and education in women's psychiatric health and perinatal prescribing from Postpartum Support International. She has a passion for caring for women and ensuring women receive whole person care throughout the lifespan.

References:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Hormone Therapy for Menopause. (2024) https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/hormone-therapy-for-menopause

Haraguchi, S., Sasahara, K., Shikimi, H., Honda, S., Harada, N., and Tsutsui, K. (2012). Estradiol promotes purkinje dendritic growth, spinogenesis, and synaptogenesis during neonatal life by inducing the expression of BDNF. Cerebellum 11, 416–417. doi: 10.1007/s12311-011-0342-6