Hormones and Mental Health: From Feeling “Crazy” to Feeling Empowered
Working with women across different stages of life, including pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause, I often hear some version of: “My emotions are all over the place,” or “I’m sure my hormones are part of why I feel like this,” or “I feel like I’m going crazy!”
Understanding Your Hormones: Why You Feel the Way You Do
Most women have an intuitive sense that their hormones influence their emotional, mental, and physical state, and that those hormones are constantly fluctuating. But many are left wondering: how, exactly?
Why It’s so Hard to Get Clear Answers
Part of the challenge is how difficult it can be to access clear, meaningful information. It’s not uncommon to seek answers, only to hear something similar to what I have personally been told, which is:
“Your hormones are always changing, so testing won’t really tell us anything, anyway.”
Experiences like this can feel frustrating and discouraging, like you have to push for information that should be more readily available.
Why Understanding Your Hormones Matters
And yet, understanding how your hormones affect you can be incredibly grounding. It offers a sense of validation, helps make sense of emotional shifts, and provides a more compassionate framework for navigating daily life.
Even learning how hormones naturally change throughout the monthly cycle can bring a surprising amount of clarity.
Hormones don’t just impact one area of your life, they influence your sleep, appetite, weight, confidence, energy, mental clarity, and window of tolerance.
Some days might feel harder than others, or that more coping skills are required to address the same stressors as the day before, which can leave you feeling crazy. But in reality, you’re responding to a body that is constantly, and naturally, changing.
Understanding your cycle can bring some major relief!
The Four Phases of your Cycle and How they Affect You
1. Follicular Phase (after your period ends)
Estrogen is rising
Testosterone begins to increase slightly
You might feel more motivated and clear-headed, increased focus and creativity, and greater emotional steadiness. Your window of tolerance often starts to widen here. Things may feel more manageable again.
2. Ovulation Phase
Estrogen peaks
Testosterone is also higher
You might feel more confident and social, higher energy, more resilient, and patient. This is often when your window is widest. You may feel like your “best self,” capable, connected, and grounded.
3. Luteal Phase
Progesterone rises (calming hormone)
Estrogen initially dips, then fluctuates
Toward the end, both estrogen and progesterone drop
You might feel calmer, slower, more inward in the beginning of this phase, but more sensitive/irritable, frustrated, more easily overwhelmed, and emotionally reactive or tearful toward the end of this phase.
Your window of tolerance may gradually narrow, especially in the days before your period. This is when small things can feel big.
4. Menstrual Phase (your period)
Estrogen and progesterone at their lowest
You might feel lower energy, more fatigued, needing rest and space. Your window may be at it’s smallest meaning less bandwidth, faster overwhelm, greater need for gentleness and care.
Learning to Work With Your Body
Each week can bring a different internal experience, calling for shifts in self-care, nourishment, productivity, and emotional support.
While this is a basic overview focused on mood and emotional capacity, hormones influence much more. Tracking your cycle and symptoms can help you notice patterns over time.
With that awareness, you can adjust your routines and coping strategies to better support your body’s changing needs. It’s common to feel at the mercy of your hormones, but growing in understanding can be deeply empowering!
Here at Atlanta Wellness collective, we want to help. For support contact us or schedule an appointment online
This blog post was written by Katrina Keebler.
This blog is not intended to substitute professional therapeutic advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your health concerns and before starting or stopping therapies. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct professional advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
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