NEW - Psychiatric Health and Your Adrenal Glands
Several aspects of daily life determine a person’s mental health status. Many of these things escape the average person’s attention or understanding. The body’s adrenal glands present an area of mental health not often recognized by the average person. You will find information advancing your knowledge on the topic of adrenal lands and their correlation to mental health through out the remaining parts of this article.
Hormones act as chemical messengers traveling a multitude of communication mediums to turn on and off signals within several different types of genes, but mostly in the area of the brain. Hormone imbalances produce a variety of psychiatric disorders, such as dementia, memory disturbances, psychotic episodes, depression, anxiety and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The burden of these psychiatric disorders turn treatments into their own ailments at one time or another. Anti-depression medication causes weight gain, memory fog, decreased sexual desire and lowered energy levels in many patients who consume the prescription as a treatment for excessive depression. Clinical depression and hormonal depression pose difficult in diagnosing differences under psychiatric evaluations. Psychiatric evaluations require detailed assessments of the subject’s hormonal variations and day-to-day circumstances.
The body’s adrenal glands produce a hormone called cortisol. Stress response systems use cortisol to mediate shock-induced reactions by stressing environments. Real and imagined stress related situations present in everyone’s life. Cortisol works to ease the effects felt from undergoing stress and allow us to recover from the situation at fast rates. Unbalanced cortisol levels heighten the effect of stress responses and throw our bodies into chaotic episodes for much longer durations than normal levels.
Genetics and early life experiences determine stress response capabilities in relation to cortisol levels. Poor nutrition, detrimental social environments, low self-esteem, lacking self-control and certain genetic factors increase the risks of experiencing chronic stress syndrome.
The brain controls bodily response mechanisms. Theories exist to provide understanding of body response to outside events. One theory suggests an event becomes perceived, the brain assigns a meaning, and in turn the meaning assigns future hormone responses to similar situations. The brain controls the level of coritsol present in the blood stream at all times. The body cannot rest with too much cortisol and the body cannot become alert in the presence of too little cortisol.
Hormone production and release mechanisms send status update messages to the brain by dropping cortisol in the blood stream. The brain, immune system and stress response mechanisms function properly because of the constant ping between the brain and adrenal glands by the use of cortisol.
The system overworks in times of deep depression, manic episodes, chronic stress situations or anxiety attacks. Adrenal, thyroid and reproductive hormonal imbalances mean a world of trouble for a person’s mental health condition and provide evidence for the lack in treatment involving people with bi-polar disorder.
Ask your doctor to check up on your hormones if you belief to be experiencing mood disorders. The tests run often include the adrenal glands, thyroid, body temperature, different types of hormone levels (TSH, T4, T3) blood-sugar levels, reproductive contingency and melatonin levels.
Organically grown foods eliminate many hormonal side effects from consuming pesticides used in mass food production. Environmental effects cause significant hormonal changes in the general population by mimicking the mechanisms of our own hormone system. Controlled experiments relay the need for proper nourishment in obtaining a well-balanced hormonal lifestyle.A relevant information source can be found at Depression Treatment Resources Reviewed.
No Tags
