Do you feel depressed and forgetful?
Thyroid hormones are vital for the regular development of the brain. Thyroid hormone deficiency during brain development results in mental retardation.
Thyroid hormones have an important place in the functionality of the mature brain. Depression and impairment of cognitive functions are the most common psychiatric disorders in thyroid diseases. Although the unbalanced thyroid hormone affects every cell of the body, cognitive functions and mood are the most basic areas where the thyroid exerts its effects on the brain.
One of the two basic conditions meant by mood disorders is that the mood is in the direction of joy. The other is to slide in the direction of grief. People with elevated mood are considered to be in mania, and people with depressed mood are considered to be in depression. Healthy people experience mood fluctuations as a reaction to the events they experience in their daily lives. Reactions such as a person being sad for a few hours after an argument with his wife or a mother being cheerful for a few days due to the success of her child can be given as examples of a healthy mood. The important thing here is that the mood is in balance. In order to talk about the disorder; If the mood has continuously increased in the direction of sadness for at least 2 weeks, it is called depressive, and if it has continuously increased in the direction of joy for at least 1 week, it is called manic mood. In order to talk about abnormal mood, the following criteria can be used: deviation from the normal state (pre-disease state) of the person evaluated up to that day, deterioration of that person's quality of life (work, family, social and individual life), and presence of other symptoms used in disease definitions.
Cognition; It is the brain's ability to think, process information, store information and solve problems. Cognition is a high-level behavior and is specific to humans. The main feature of cognitive impairment is limited cognitive function. It involves problems with memory, language, thinking, and decision-making that are greater than normal age-related changes. If the disorder is mild, you may be aware that your memory and mental functions 'slip'. Your family and loved ones Your friends may also notice a change. Constant or increasing anxiety about your mental performance should alert you. Mental issues may go beyond what is expected and are possible precursors if you are experiencing any or all of the following: You forget more often. You forget important events like appointments or social events. You forget the train of thought or the topic of conversations, books or movies. You become extremely overwhelmed with making decisions, carrying out a task, or interpreting instructions. You begin to have difficulty finding your way in an environment you know. You become more impulsive or have increasingly poor judgment. Your family and friends notice these changes. There may also be: Depression, irritability and aggression, anxiety, apathy, etc.
Although patients with hyperthyroidism (excess thyroid hormone in the blood) often show cognitive symptoms, there is no continuity. Psychiatric disorders improve in the majority of cases with antithyroid (thyroid hormone-lowering) treatment. Similarly, cognitive symptoms are frequently observed in patients with hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormone in the blood). Thyroid diseases cause these disorders more easily with age. Since mood is also affected in thyroid diseases, it is not easy to know whether cognitive impairment is caused by thyroid dysfunction or mood change.
HYPOTHYROID
It is the most important thyroid disease in terms of psychiatric conditions. It is more in women than men. It is not felt much at first, but memory weakens and difficulty in concentration occurs. There is a decrease in thoughts and movements. The amount of talking decreases. Clarity of perception begins to deteriorate. First, illusions develop. This phenomenon is a misjudgment of the impressions of a real object on the senses. For example; Judgments may occur, such as comparing a bag thrown on the side of the road to an animal from afar. Later, hallucinations, especially visual ones, occur. It is the state of believing in the existence of a belief without any object or stimulus stimulating a sensory organ. In hallucinations, the person; He completely believes in what he sees, hears and feels. Most of the time it actually exists The appearance of invisible, small and moving objects is an example of vision hallucinations. Feelings of mistrust and extreme skepticism towards others may develop. The state of aggression that develops when provoked is rare but possible.
Unpleasant temperament, loss of interest or pleasure, weight gain, decreased appetite, increased sleep, constipation, decreased sexual desire, fatigue, loss of attention Inability to concentrate, suicidal thoughts and rambling are common symptoms that can be seen in both depression and hypothyroidism. Weight loss, increased appetite and decreased sleep are only seen in depression. Goiter, intolerance to cold, graying of hair, thinning of eyebrows, thickened and dry skin, decrease in heart rate, heart failure and decreased reflexes are only seen in patients with hypothyroidism.
Drugs containing thyroid hormone are very helpful in the treatment of psychiatric conditions seen in hypothyroidism. It may be beneficial if antidepressants are given initially to those with depressive symptoms. For those whose psychiatric condition exceeds two years, thyroid hormone replacement therapy alone is not sufficient.
Last word: Many people who apply to a psychiatrist with depressive complaints do not actually know that they have a thyroid disease. The first test to be applied to them is thyroid hormone determination.
Read: 0
