If Your Mental Health Feels Cyclical, It Might Be Hormones
Many women come to therapy feeling confused, frustrated, or even ashamed of how much their mood, energy, anxiety, or self-esteem can fluctuate. One week they feel grounded and capable. The next, they feel overwhelmed, tearful, irritable, or disconnected from themselves and their relationships. While hormonal changes aren’t always the culprit here, many of us don’t realize how much hormonal fluctuations can impact mental health (mostly because there has historically been a lack of clinical research and education in this area).
Recent studies have shown that some women are more sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. Trauma may impact our sensitivity to these fluctuations.
How Hormones Affect Mental Health
Hormones are chemical messengers that influence nearly every system in the body, including the brain. In women, hormones such as estrogen and progesterone don’t remain stable — they fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, postpartum period, perimenopause, and menopause.
These shifts directly impact neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA — the very systems responsible for mood regulation, motivation, calm, and emotional resilience.
When hormones change, it can affect:
Mood and emotional intensity
Anxiety levels and nervous system sensitivity
Sleep quality and energy
Focus, motivation, and brain fog
Self-esteem and sense of emotional safety
This means that mental health symptoms aren’t happening in isolation. They’re often the result of an ongoing conversation between your brain, body, and experiences.
Common Hormone-Related Mental Health Patterns
Some women notice predictable emotional changes across their cycle. Others experience more intense or disruptive symptoms. Hormonal influences can show up as:
Increased anxiety or panic before your period
Low mood, irritability, or hopelessness in the luteal phase
Heightened emotional sensitivity or rejection sensitivity
Worsening depression or anxiety symptoms postpartum
Mood swings, brain fog, or anxiety during perimenopause
For some, these shifts are mild. For others, they can feel life-altering — especially when combined with stress, trauma history, or attachment wounds.
Why This Often Gets Misunderstood
Many women are told (directly or indirectly) that it’s “just stress,” “just hormones,” or something they should be able to push through.
But “just hormones” doesn’t mean insignificant. Hormones shape how safe, connected, and regulated your nervous system feels. When we ignore this layer, women often end up blaming themselves for something that isn’t a personal failing.
Understanding the hormonal context can be profoundly relieving, and empowering.
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy won’t change your hormones, but it can change how supported, resourced, and regulated you feel while living in a hormonally responsive body.
In my work, we often focus on:
Tracking patterns between mood, cycle phases, and stress — understanding patterns and triggers is an essential part of reclaiming agency and a sense of control
Reducing shame and self-blame around emotional shifts
Supporting nervous system regulation during vulnerable phases
Exploring how hormones interact with anxiety, depression, or trauma
Building compassion-based coping strategies that actually fit your body
Mental health support works best when it honours biology and lived experience — not one or the other.
Looking For Therapy in Duncan, BC or Online?
If your mental health feels unpredictable, cyclical, or harder at certain times of the month or life stages, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything “wrong”. It often just means that your body is asking for extra understanding, support, and care. If you are looking for support, I offer trauma-informed therapy for adults online across Canada and in person in Duncan, BC. You can learn more about my approach here, or click the button below to schedule a free 20-minute consult to see if we would be a good fit.
