re thyroidal deficiency in article apr adobe com abruno adobe andrea bruno writes in article sfb mvs draper com sfb mvs draper com eileen bauer writes thyroxin controls energy production which explains sleepiness coldness and weight gain there is also water retention possibly around heart changes in vision and coarser hair and skin among other things is there any relation between thyroid deficiency and depression perhaps the listlessness caused by thyroid deficiency could mimic depression or feeling unable to do anything could cause one to get depressed but i know of no specific effect on the brain caused by the thyroid that would cause depression note that weight gain is usually a symptom of both simple blood tests would indicate if a thyroid condition is present i don t know if depression would cause a reduction in thyroid output but i would tend to doubt it as far as i know clinical depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and that chemical imbalance has no direct effect on any other part of the body a regular everyday depression imho should not cause a chemical imbalance in the body at all the pituitary bases its secretions of thyroid stimulating hormone tsh on the level of circulating thyroxin there are two types t and t one is used as a reserve and is changed into the other active form in the liver the ratio of t t can be affected by a number of other hormones estrogen for example naturally changing activity of the body s cells would cause changes in availabilty of free thyroxin but the liver and a healthy thyroid should be able to balance things out in short order good sources for info on the thyroid are the merk manual a physician s reference book although reading it is enough to get one depressed and the encyclopedia brittanica should be available in your local library i hope this has been of some help eileen bauer
