Discover The Close Link Between Low T And Anxiety
Most of us are aware of just how testosterone controls and regulates our physical health and well being, Increased muscle mass and strength, confidence, sex drive and performance are all key benefits of optimum testosterone levels.
But what can testosterone do to us on a psychological level? Is there defined link between our mental health and hormone levels?
in this article I take a look at the relationship between testosterone levels and our feelings of anxiety – Is there a clear link between the two? If so what causes it?
Table Of Contents
Anxiety
Anxiety (aka Generalised Anxiety Disorder or GAD for short) is a condition that causes you to feel feelings of fear, unease or worry.
This is quite normal for all of us to experience from time to time, and in the majority cases, these worries pass quickly and we get on with our lives.
Someone who is suffering from long term anxiety usually sees the world at its worst, they worry about everything, even things that haven’t happened yet (and probably won’t) This is a truly debilitating illness that can incapacitate its sufferers.
The National Institute Of Mental Health in the US provided us with statistics that tell us that around 18% of all adults in the US alone suffer from anxiety.
Symptoms And Causes
Anxiety can manifest itself in many ways, it can be associated with lack of concentration, poor sleep quality and an inability to complete even simple everyday tasks.
Sufferers tend to feel tense, scared and depressed, some will even experience panic attacks which leads to a never ending cycle of worry and fearfulness.
Sufferers can experience:
- Shortness of breath
- Feelings of nausea
- Sweating
- Chest pains and heart palpitations
Anxiety is classed as a multi factorial disorder, this means that it has numerous causes that can include any number of things such as genetics, lifestyle, brain chemistry and the sufferers individual personality traits.
Anxiety is believed to be a dysfunction of the somatic nervous system. People with anxiety generally show an increase in activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala – This is the area of the brain that controls our memory, emotions and our survival instinct.
Experts believe that the amygdala works overtime in sufferers of anxiety, causing them to perceive threats that do not exist. – Causing Feelings Of Anxiety.
Anxiety And Testosterone Levels
Testosterone has many benefits in the body, as I mentioned above it is key to all our physical masculine traits.
It has long been thought to have a crucial effect on our mental health too. We know that hormones can play a huge part in our moods, motivation and emotional state of mind.
This is fine during our younger years and into our 30’s while our hormone production is at its peak, but with ageing comes a natural reduction on hormones like testosterone.
Experts tell us that it falls between 1-2% per year.
By the time a man reaches 50, he could have up to 40% less testosterone being produced in his body, and the effects can be really evident, with the sufferer experiencing reductions in muscle tone, strength, energy levels, sleep quality and sex drive.
They can also see an increase in body fat, particularly around the stomach area.
Low Testosterone is classed as when the testosterone levels in the blood drop below 300ng.dl. A study published in the journal pharmacology showed that men with low T were more likely to experience mental health issues including memory loss, reduced cognitive ability, irritability and anxiety.
The same study also concluded that these problems could be reduced and even completely reversed by returning testosterone levels to normal.
Similar results were shown in a study that looked at men aged 50 and over. The study report concluded that men with low T were more likely to display symptoms of anxiety.
But Could These Symptoms Just Be Related To Getting Older?
I thought the same thing, and its a perfectly reasonable judgement to make.
However…
The link between anxiety and low testosterone has been found in younger men too, those who were not old enough to be considered to be suffering from age related low testosterone.
One study looked at testosterone levels in young boys to ascertain the relationship between testosterone and anxiety levels.
The study team discovered that boys as young as 13-14 who demonstrated low or reducing testosterone levels though the day showed that they were more likely to experience depressive, anxious feelings. This resulted in behavioural problems and mood swings.
Its the same when you look at adults of both sexes.
A landmark study in the Netherlands engaged 700 men and 1300 women for their study, each of them had a history of anxiety and depression, some more serious than others.
The aim of the study was to look at how salivary testosterone was related to general anxiety in either sexes.
The results clearly demonstrated that those with greater levels of depression and anxiety had lower testosterone levels.
“It has been clinically confirmed that low levels of testosterone and both anxiety and depression are clearly linked”
To Sum Up
Anxiety and depression are debilitating conditions often recognised by feelings of worry, unease and fear.
The causes are proven to be multi factorial, without any doubt, but the studies listed here and many others do show a proven link between reduced hormone levels and generalised anxiety.
With that in mind, its absolutely crucial to take all the steps you can to optimise your testosterone production, that way you will be maintaining both your physical and mental health.
Natural T-Boosters
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MEET THE AUTHOR: My name is Paul Gardner – I am the editor, main researcher and writer for testojunction.com.
I am 59 years old and currently live in the outskirts of London.
Sport and fitness has been a massive part of my life, as a younger man I used to swim competitively. Representing the county at events both home and abroad.
I have also been an avid squash and tennis player too, and have been a keen gym goer all through my life.
I have a CPD accreditation in Sports Nutrition, and have studied and have been writing about nutrition, hormones, natural ingredients and sports supplements for over 12 years and have had articles published in many popular publications.
One area that I have a particular interest in is how hormones play a massive part in our development, fitness, muscularity, strength and of course our sexual development.
