PCOS possible connection with mental health problems
I work as a mental health support worker in Leeds W. Yorks in England. One of my clients has been diagnosed with PCOS but she also suffers from what her psychiatrist says is schizophrenia. We think that there may be some correlation between the symptons of PCOS and schizophrenia and that her mental health problems could have been misdiagnosed. Has anyone else got any experience of this. Has anyone else been diagnosed with mental health problems which could actually be symptoms of PCOS. Does anyone possess any medical evidence of this correlation. Her psychiatrist is refusing to erase the label of schizophrenia from her medical records due to lack of medical evidence
As a biologist, and having done some research, I have a theory on this. I've been talking to other people too, both here and in the scientific comminity, and they agree with me, so see what you think.
I believe that PCOS is a brain disorder, caaused by the hormone control centre called the hypothalamus. This would not only explain how PCOS can cover such as wide range of differing symptoms, BUT also other factors, such as headaches, large ranges of visual problems, epilepsy and many other mental disorders.
Like I say, just a theory, and it is going to need some practical research, which is easier said than done, but ALL biological things start out with theories.
So MY answer is, there probably IS a connection, if I am right.
Kyl
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I am sure there must be a link somewhere for sure but with some Dr's reluctant to even acknowledge PCOS, getting them to recognise any of its affects is an uphill battle.
This really needs to be researched properly once and for all, we deserve answers.
I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 23, I am now 36. Since I had my second child I have suffered from severe mood swings and depression near my cycle. I actually ended up in a psychiatric unit for 2 weeks as I was suicidal.
I guess what I am describing is severe PMT!!! Recently my GP thought I may have bipolar disorder and he sent me into a panic about this possible diagnosis I can tell you! Then I was referred to a psychiatrist who assured me that I DID NOT have bipolar!
I think that yes there is a definite connection there with PCOS and mental health problems, but purely in the PMT sense for me!
I was diagnosed with PCOS at 19 and at the time, I wasn't told wether or not it corresponded with any sever mood swings or other mental health problems .... I was mainly treated for the cycles (Ortho-Cyclen) and the cosmetic problems (Spironolactone) ....
However, while I was going through college, I was getting counseling for other things that were going on my life (having to do with family and finances), and at the time, I had mood swings and mild depression. A psychiatrist came in to do an evaluation of me .... She prescribed something called Trillifon .... To combat the social anxiety and the difficulty in concentrating that I was having. I spontaneously stopped taking the meds after I felt I didn't need them and haven't been back on them since.
As far as the severe mood swings are concerned (as well as the depression), it happens to me when I am at particularly rough points in my life .... I have had a lot happen to me in my history and that's why I really have no way of knowing if the mood swings are linked to the PCOS or not. These days, I go through periods (a day or two or a couple of hours), when I have negative thoughts (not about suicide or anything very drastic, just very pessimistic). But doesn't everyone go through those periods?
__________________ "Life is pain .... Whoever says any differently is selling something ...."
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Hello!
Well I am new here. I joined today and was amazed that I found this thread. I have PCOS and schizophrenia. Weird connections. I want to become pregnant andstopped taking my psychotropic meds. So we will see. Just wanted to tell ya that. Weird connection I tell ya.
Well I was actually thinking this correlation is a good thing because if it's true then all the people suffering and getting labeled wih mental illness is really suffering from PCOS or hormonal stuff. If I am treated for PCOS rather then schizophrenia, then I won't get the terrible side effects of the psychotropic medications. Plus, I won't be treated for soemthing I don't have. The stigma of schizophrenia is awful. What we have to go through is insane. Pardon the pun.
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As a biologist, and having done some research, I have a theory on this. I've been talking to other people too, both here and in the scientific comminity, and they agree with me, so see what you think.
I believe that PCOS is a brain disorder, caaused by the hormone control centre called the hypothalamus. This would not only explain how PCOS can cover such as wide range of differing symptoms, BUT also other factors, such as headaches, large ranges of visual problems, epilepsy and many other mental disorders.
Like I say, just a theory, and it is going to need some practical research, which is easier said than done, but ALL biological things start out with theories.
So MY answer is, there probably IS a connection, if I am right.
Kyl
Kyl, I agree with your hypothesis. I think PCOS is very closely related to brain/neurotransmitter abnormalities, with the more commonly cited cause (insulin & glucose problems) merely being symptomatic of, or independent symptom of the underlying brain/neurotransmitter issue. This is why in any given sample of hyperinsulinemic women, only a small portion of them will have PCOS sequelae. If PCOS were only about glucose and insulin, it would be ubiquitous in diabetic women, right? It is not.
I think the "special factor" that creates PCOS is intrinsically brain and neurotransmitter based, and I also think that the nature of our glucose/insulin problems are different from those of classically diabetic women... we are less intolerant of glucose, and more accurately we are intolerant of insulin (do not use properly) . In diabetes there is an excess production of glucose, and abnormalities of mitochondria so that it is not metabolized correctly. Type II diabetes is a very specific glucose disorder, insulin problems are secondary.
PCOS, most of the time, is more directly insulin based, the problem is in how we use and make insulin... glucose production is normal, glucose oxidation isn't markedly impaired, we don't use and regulate insulin well and overproduce it. And I think the reason this occurs, is coexisting with abnormaliteis in neurotransmitters/brain function that also affect mood.
Probably relates to inositol; essential to make serotonin receptors work as well as insulin receptors, and special role in the process of ovulation.
***But most of the time, I do believe the link is that psych meds trigger or worsen PCOS in women, particularly the antipsychotics and antiepileptic depakote tend to do this. It seems, then, that schizophrenics have PCOS often but the reality is this is only so because they have a long history of taking antidopaminergic meds that can trigger the PCOS by causing hyperinsulinemia.
I also wonder about the links between PCOS and mental health. I have Borderline Personality Disorder (given the stigma carried by this illness, I allow you all to shriek in horror, but I promise you that I didn't choose to have it). BPD is characterized, among other things, by sharp mood swings and a proneness to depression (the suicide rate for this illness is 8-10%, which is enormous). On another hand, PCOS is very often associated to mood swings and depression. So I sometimes wonder what comes from mental illness and what comes from hormonal imbalance, and whether the latter contributed to trigger the former.
Last edited by Epoisses; 10-25-2009 at 09:56 AM.
Reason: grammar
PCOS possible connection with mental health problems 
Schizophrenia 
