Graves' and mental health - here's what you need to know
Do you have Graves’ disease? If so, you need to understand how it can affect not only your physical symptoms, but also your mental health.
An overactive thyroid can affect the entire body, including the brain and nervous system. As a result, it can have big impact on your mental wellbeing. So you want to make sure you’re taking steps to care for your mental health as well as your physical health.
How Graves’ disease can influence your mental health
Thyroid hormones don’t just affect your energy and weight. In fact, your mood, your emotions, and even your thoughts can be influenced by your thyroid gland. This is because the thyroid hormones are directly affecting the cells within your brain and nervous system.
But with Graves’ disease, there is also a second mechanism at play. This is the autoimmune side, which means that your immune system and inflammatory processes are at work along with the direct effects of thyroid dysfunction.
Graves’ can affect your mental health via:
Physical symptoms contributing to anxiety and stress (as they are often confused for mental experiences)
Reduced memory, mental fatigue, poor concentration and brain fog
Sleep disturbances including insomnia, poor sleep onset and/or maintenance, insufficient deep sleep and daytime fatigue
Reduced tolerance to stress tolerance
Inducing mood swings and emotions such as anxiety, restlessness, irritability, anger and even rage
Increased inflammation in the body – autoimmune disease goes hand in hand with inflammation, which can directly affect the brain and therefore your mental health
Adding the burden of chronic disease management to your plate – this means more stress overall, reduced stress confidence, feelings of isolation, and of course financial stress related to your health needs!
So what can I do to manage my symptoms?
As with any mental health concerns, it’s always best to seek professional help from a qualified mental health practitioner. However, when it comes to mental health concerns that are caused or exacerbated Graves’ disease, there are other steps we can take alongside that.
ENSURE YOU’RE RECEIVING the right level of thyroid TREATMENT
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with who have not been on the right level of intervention to manage their symptoms! That’s why this is always the first thing to focus on.
Treating Graves’ disease with interventions such as medication is a delicate balance. You want to make sure that you’re getting enough of intervention to keep your levels out of the danger zone.
But on the other hand, you don’t want to slip into a hypothyroid state. Hypothyroidism has its own effects on mental wellbeing, so you don’t want to swap one problem for the other! This is particularly important to watch for if you’ve had further interventions such as radioactive iodine or surgery.
OPTIMISE YOUR DIET & LIFESTYLE
Conventional options such as medication, radioactive treatment and surgery aren’t the only tools you have for managing your Graves’ disease. Your diet and lifestyle are just as powerful, and they also help to slow or even halt the underlying disease process.
Need some tips to get you started? I’ve got you covered! Make sure you check out:
HAVE A PLAN FOR FLARES
Like any autoimmune condition, Graves’ can lead to flare-ups. And unfortunately, this can also flare your mental health issues as well.
That’s why I recommend knowing what is likely to trigger your flares, as well as having a plan in place for when a flare does occur. It won’t stop the mental struggles, but it does give you a sense of understanding why you feel that way. Plus it can ease the symptoms faster if you act quickly.
Not sure where to start? I share my top tips here.
Take steps to manage your stress
Stress and Graves’ disease can become a messy spiral if you’re not careful. The added stress can make your symptoms and disease process more severe, which worsens your mental health. And the poorer your mental health, the harder it is for you to cope with stress.
Graves’ also adds that extra layer of inflammation & autoimmunity as well. We know that there is a close relationship between chronic stress, inflammation, poor gut health and autoimmune disease processes. So we want to do what we can to stop that all feeding into each other.
That’s why it’s crucial to manage your stress actively. I share some of my top tips for stress & hyperthyroidism here.
THE POWER IS IN YOUR HANDS
When you receive a thyroid disease diagnosis, there’s a good chance you’ll feel overwhelmed and powerless. It could even be that you’re not clear on what’s driving it or where it came from!
But even if you’re still uncovering the cause, it doesn’t mean you need to suffer the symptoms forever! Your daily habits can make a massive difference – all you need to do is learn about your condition and empower yourself.