Estrogen: Estrogen also influences the production of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Too much or too little estrogen can alter neurotransmitter levels and lead to feelings of depression.
What hormones cause depression? A drop in estrogen and progesterone may trigger depressive episodes. Increased levels of progesterone, such as through taking a progesterone-only contraceptive, may also increase the risk of depression in some people.
The changes in hormone level during puberty may make a girl feel anxious or have low mood. During puberty, the brain is still developing; this means that adolescents don't have strong control over their impulses. This, coupled with the hormonal changes that occur during puberty, can be stressful to a teen.
When estrogen is disrupted or fluctuates too greatly, it leaves the brain at higher risk for depression — much like what happens during puberty, pregnancy, after giving birth, at certain points in the menstrual cycle, during menopause, and other developmental stages specific to women.
Estrogen plays a significant role in mediating moods. This means that the more estrogen you have in your body, the more “moody” you might be. The first signs of hormonal changes often include feeling more “sensitive” to yourself and others, or moods that seem “bigger” than usual.
Boosts your mood
Those mood swings you get right before your menstrual cycle might be caused by the shifting levels of estrogen. The hormone is known to help keep serotonin levels regular (those “feel-good hormones”) and help the effectiveness of endorphins.
The body needs a suitable balance of estrogen and other sex hormones for health. High estrogen levels may cause weight gain, low mood, and severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in females. In males, it may lead to erectile dysfunction. Estrogen is considered a female sex hormone.
It also increases GABA, the calming neurotransmitter and raises endorphins, which help you feel good. Low estrogen levels often found in menopause can cause feelings of sadness and hopelessness. Progesterone: This hormone helps to balance estrogen, helps promote sleep and has a natural calming effect.
Mood Swings and Depression
When your progesterone levels drop, your GABA levels drop as well. Low progesterone can lead to feelings of anxiety, sadness, or depression. The increase in progesterone during pregnancy is why so many women report feeling AMAZING during pregnancy.
In addition to regulating the menstrual cycle, estrogen affects the reproductive tract, the urinary tract, the heart and blood vessels, bones, breasts, skin, hair, mucous membranes, pelvic muscles, and the brain.
Mood swings in females can be the result of PMS, PMDD, PME, pregnancy, and menopause. Females can also experience mood swings as a result of conditions that affect all sexes, such as mental health conditions. A doctor can diagnose the cause and recommend treatments.
Biologically, there may be a reason women cry more than men: Testosterone may inhibit crying, while the hormone prolactin (seen in higher levels in women) may promote it.
Mood swings occur when serotonin levels rise and fall rapidly, leading to the roller coaster ride of emotion many women experience during their menstruation and menopause cycles. Both estrogen and progesterone, which fluctuate during a woman's cycle, control serotonin production levels.
Hot flashes and Night Sweats
Estrogen affects the hypothalamus, which regulates body temperature. Low estrogen causes hot flashes and night sweats, two annoying symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.
Estrogen and progesterone are the primary hormones that control female sexual characteristics, reproduction, and your menstrual cycle. During certain times of the month, these hormone levels increase. This fluctuation, combined with ovarian steroids, can change the way you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically.
You might cry at the drop of a hat and you can experience mood swings from deeply sad one minute to happy the next. When progesterone gets unbalanced, you lose the benefit it gives to the brain – which is the ability to act as a mood stabilizer – so all of a sudden your emotions go all over the place.
“Falling estrogen and progesterone levels can trigger mood swings that make you less able to cope with things you'd normally let roll off your back,” says Payne. “For some women, these hormonal dips can set off a depressive episode, especially for those who've gone through major depression in the past.”
Progesterone is usually soothing to mood but can sometimes cause anxiety. A negative mood reaction to changing levels of progesterone is called neurosteroid change sensitivity or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and affects about one in twenty women.
Too little estrogen can lead to a low sex drive. Too much of it can cause infertility and erectile dysfunction. Excessive estrogen can cause gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts.
When estrogen is too high or too low you may get menstrual cycle changes, dry skin, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, night sweats, vaginal thinning and dryness, low sex drive, mood swings, weight gain, PMS, breast lumps, fatigue, depression and anxiety.
“Ovarian hormones change in a cyclical way and some of the hormones (particularly progesterone) can affect your mood significantly. This can make you feel low, emotional and can make you feel like crying for no reason.
Even though the tears could not be smelled, tears nevertheless decreased the sexual appeal of women's faces. Female tears also lowered sexual arousal and reduced testosterone levels in men. A subsequent brain imaging study highlighted differences in functional activation in the brain.