Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:05:34.445Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Hormonal Component to Postnatal Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Brian Harris
Brian Harris*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Disorders of the thyroid gland are associated with disorders of mood (Thomas et al, 1970; Van Uitert & Russakoff, 1979; Folks, 1984; Young, 1984; Jadresic, 1990). Both hypothyroid and hyperthyroid states can be associated with depression, which is sometimes accompanied by psychotic features such as delusions and hallucinations (Wilson & Jefferson, 1986). Similarly, primary affective disorders can be accompanied by changes in thyroid function, with low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and elevated thyroxine (T4) (Kirkegaard & Faber, 1980), and in major depressive illness there is often a blunted TSH response to thyrotrophin releasing hormone (TRH) (Prange et al, 1972; Loosen, 1987).

Type
Point of View
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 403 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM-III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Amino, N., Miyai, K., Onishi, T., et al (1978) Transient hypothyroidism after delivery in autoimmune thyroiditis. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 42, 296–301.Google Scholar
Amino, N., Miyai, K., Onishi, T., Mori, H., Iwatani, Y., et al (1982) High prevalence of transient post-partum thyrotoxicosis and hypothyroidism. New England Journal of Medicine, 306, 849–852.Google Scholar
Bech, K., Hertel, J., Rasmussen, N. G., et al (1991) Effect of maternal auto-antibodies and post-partum thyroiditis on the fetus and neonate. Acta Endocrinologica, 125, 146–149.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L., Connor, Y. & Kendell, R. E. (1982) Prospective study of the psychiatric disorders of childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 111–117.Google Scholar
Dantzer, R. & Kelly, K. W. (1989) Stress and immunity: an integrated view of relationships between the brain and the immune system. Life Sciences, 44, 1995–2008.Google Scholar
Folks, D. G. (1984) Organic affective disorder and underlying thyrotoxicosis. Psychosomatics, 25, 243–249.Google Scholar
Fung, H. Y. M., Kologlu, M., Collison, K., et al (1988) Postpartum thyroid dysfunction in Mid Glamorgan. British Medical Journal, 296, 241–244.Google Scholar
Gerstein, H. C. (1990) How common is post partum thyroiditis? Archives of Internal Medicine, 150, 1397–1400.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. (1972) The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire (GHQ). Maudsley Monograph 21. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ham, G. C., Alexander, F. & Carmichael, H. T. (1951) A psychosomatic theory of thyrotoxicosis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 13, 18–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, B., Fung, H., Johns, S., et al (1989a) Transient post partum thyroid dysfunction and post-natal depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 17, 243–249.Google Scholar
Harris, B., Fung, H., Johns, S., Thomas, D. R., et al (1989b) The hormonal environment of post-natal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 660–667.Google Scholar
Harris, B., Fung, H., Johns, S., Thomas, D. R., Othman, S., Davies, J. A., et al (1992a) Association between postpartum thyroid dysfunction and thyroid antibodies and depression. British Medical Journal, 305, 152–156.Google Scholar
Harris, F., Creed, T. S. & Brugha, T. S. (1992b) Stressful life events and Graves' disease. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 535–541.Google Scholar
Hayslip, C. C., Fein, H. G., O'Donnell, V. M., et al (1988) The value of serum antimicrosomal antibody testing in screening for symptomatic postpartum thyroid dysfunction. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 159, 203–209.Google Scholar
Jadresic, D. P. (1990) Psychiatric aspects of hyperthyroidism. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 34, 603–615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jansson, R., Bernanders, S., Karlsson, A., et al (1984) Autoimmune thyroid dysfunction in the postpartum period. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 681–687.Google Scholar
Jansson, R., Bernanders, S., Karlsson, A., Karlsson, F. A., Linde, A., et al (1987) Post partum activation of autoimmunity: transient increase of total IgG levels in normal women and in women with autoimmune thyroiditis. Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 70, 68–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Kirkegaard, C. & Faber, J. (1980) Altered serum levels of thyroxine, tri-iodothyronines, and di-iodothyronines in endogenous depression. Acta Endocrinologica, 96, 199–207.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. M. (1984) A prospective study of emotional disorders in childbearing women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 35–47.Google Scholar
Leonard, B. H. (1990) The immune system and mental illness. Psychiatry in Practice, 9, 11–13.Google Scholar
Lidz, T. & Whitehorn, J. C. (1949) Psychiatric problems in a thyroid clinic. Journal of American Psychiatric Association, 139, 698–701.Google Scholar
Loosen, P. T. (1987) The TRH stimulation test in psychiatric disorders. In Handbook of Clinical Psychoendocrinology (eds Nemeroff, C. B. & Loosen, P. T.). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Mallett, P. M., Hunter, C., Richards, C., et al (1992) Postpartum autoimmune thyroid disorder, depression and cognitive functioning. Psychiatry in Europe: the challenge of 1992 (Autumn Quarterly Meeting; abstracts). London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Nott, P. N., Franklin, M., Armitage, C., et al (1976) Hormonal changes and mood in the puerperium. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 379.Google Scholar
O'Hara, M. W., Schlechte, J. A., Lewis, D. A., et al (1991) Prospective study of post partum blues. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 801–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Emms, E. M., Fletcher, J., et al (1980) Life events and social support in puerperal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 339–346.Google Scholar
Pop, V. J., De Rooy, H. A. M., Vader, H. L., et al (1991) Post partum thyroid dysfunction and depression in an unselected population. New England Journal of Medicine, 324, 1815–1816.Google Scholar
Prange, A. J., Wilson, I. C., Lara, P. P., et al (1972) Effects of thyrotropin releasing hormone in depression. Lancet, ii 999–1002.Google Scholar
Prentice, L. M., Phillips, D. I. W., Sarsero, D., et al (1990) Geographical distribution of subclinical autoimmune thyroid disease in Britain: a study using highly sensitive direct assays for autoantibodies to thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase. Acta Endocrinologica, 123, 493–498.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, N. G., Hornnes, P. J., Hegedus, L., et al (1989) Serum thyroglobulin during the menstrual cycle, during pregnancy and post partum. Acta Endocrinologica, 121, 168–173.Google Scholar
Roberton, H. E. W. (1948) Lassitude, coldness and hair changes following pregnancy, and then response to treatment with thyroid extract. British Medical Journal, ii (suppl.), 2275–2276.Google Scholar
Rodin, A. (1989) Thyroid disease in pregnancy. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 41, 234–243.Google ScholarPubMed
Sheehan, H. L. (1939) Simmonds disease due to post partum necrosis of the anterior pituitary. Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 8, 277–309.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC): rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773–782.Google Scholar
Stewart, D. E., Addison, A. M., Robinson, G. E., et al (1988) Thyroid function in psychosis following childbirth. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1579–1581.Google Scholar
Tachi, J., Amino, N., Tamaki, H., et al (1988) Long term follow up and HLA association in patients with post partum hypothyroidism. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 66, 480–484.Google Scholar
Thomas, F. B., Mazzaferri, E. L. & Skillman, T. G. (1970) Apathetic thyrotoxicosis: a distinctive clinical and laboratory entity. Annals of Internal Medicine, 72, 679–685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Uitert, R. L. & Russakoff, L. M. (1979) Hyperthyroid chorea mimicking psychiatric disease. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 1208–1210.Google Scholar
Watson, J. P., Elliott, S. A., Rugg, A. J., et al (1984) Psychiatric disorders in pregnancy and the first post natal year. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 453–462.Google Scholar
Wilson, W. H. & Jefferson, J. W. (1986) Thyroid disease, behaviour and psychopharmacology. Psychosomatics, 26, 481–492.Google Scholar
Winsa, B., Adami, H. O., Bergstrom, R., et al (1991) Stressful life events and Graves' disease. Lancet, 338, 1475–1479.Google Scholar
Young, L. D. (1984) Organic affective disorder associated with thyrotoxicosis. Psychosomatics, 25, 490–492.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.