Can Emotional Trauma Cause Thyroid Problems

Can emotional trauma cause thyroid problems? Just like everything else in psychosomatics, it has not been ‘proven’ in the scientific way. But studies seem to have shown that they have a connection, way beyond what can be explained by coincidence.
 

A study spanning two decades. in which 45,992 American nurses participated, deduced that women with more symptoms of post-traumatic stress were more likely to develop hypothyroidism later in life. The rate was seen to be almost 25% higher for highest level of PTSD symptoms. The same study found no such link for Graves' disease (study). Yet a 2023 analysis that pooled 13 studies did find stress associated with the onset of Graves' (analysis).

So research does point to a connection, but, just as every human life is unique, the advent of disease has to be unique. And just like every other disease, medical research looks at medical causes, genes, deficiencies and the immune system.

But your question was - can emotional trauma cause thyroid problems? And I would say yes. Not because research says so, but because what people with thyroid conditions tell me, once the reports are put aside.

Most Of Them Say Nothing Happened

The first response (or maybe reaction) to a question about trauma posed to anyone, usually is 

“No, nothing like that.” or words to that effect. 

And they mean it, because there is nothing major, no terrible day that could qualify. It was an average, normal, even happy life. 

Then things start tumbling out - parent's long illness, a marriage that entailed one sided adjustment, a business that failed or a loss that had no time to look at because there were mouths to feed.

None of this felt like trauma at the time. It felt like life, and the only thing to do with life was to get on with it.

Some Trauma Leaves You Practical

We expect trauma to look like tears, or nightmares, or falling apart. Often it looks like the opposite. You became sensible.

You stopped asking what you want and started asking what is reasonable. You learnt to plan for the worst. You became the one who manages, and you became very good at it.

People admire this, and it did get you through. But look at what it cost. At some point the question 'what do I want?' stopped being asked, because wanting had become something you couldn't afford.

What I keep hearing

The sentence under the practicality is not the same for everyone, and this is where the thyroid patterns part ways.

• Hypothyroid: “I don't want anything for myself. What would be the point?”
• Hyperthyroid: "Every time I arrive, it turns out not to be the place."
• Hashimoto's: "I want to move, but something inside stops me. Who am I to want that?"
• Graves': "I want to stop, but something inside won't let me."

I hear some version of these far too often to ignore them. Whether the life produced the condition, or the condition shaped the life, I can't tell you. I only know that the sentence is there, and that it was usually there before the diagnosis.

What you can do with this

Keep your medication and your tests exactly as they are. Nothing here replaces them.

Then ask yourself one thing. What did you become sensible about?

Go back to the year you got practical. What were you wanting just before that?
Which of the four sentences is yours?