If you have PCOS and struggle with mood disorders such as mood swings, anxiety, or depression, you’re not alone.
Having imbalanced hormones, specifically high insulin levels and access androgen can really impact how you feel. That’s why balancing your hormones and losing weight affects so much more than just your physical appearance with PCOS. Most women find that once they get on the right diet for their body and begin losing weight, their mood also improves immensely.
There are certain things that we can do to make mood disorders worse, and there are certain things we can do to make them better! I thought I’d share what I believe will have the most significant impact below!
Things that make your moods worse with PCOS
Thinking there’s something wrong with you.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, and thinking there is will make things much more painful. You are a human being with emotions. Our culture has taught us that we should be happy all of the time (thanks to advertising). “Just buy this one thing, and you’ll feel so much better!” But the truth is, life is 50/50. We are SUPPOSED to feel negative emotions. We wouldn’t know happiness without sadness. There wouldn’t be light without dark. When you make negative emotion wrong, it only adds fuel to the fire and causes a deeper level of suffering.
Eating a diet rich in sugary foods and refined carbohydrates.
These foods will raise your blood sugar, causing insulin levels to rise. High insulin levels throw off several other hormones associated with PCOS, causing imbalanced hormones that directly affect your mood.
Feeling like a victim
When we feel like we’re the victim of our circumstances, we feel stuck. If you’re blaming PCOS, your partner, your kids, your job, etc, for how you feel, you’re giving 100% the power of your emotional life away. If you want to change how you feel, you must take full responsibility for your emotions. In the coaching world, we call this emotional adulthood. Once we do this, we begin to make much more empowered choices, and begin living into the life we want to live, rather than just running on default.
Buffering
Buffering is using external things to change how we feel emotionally. An example of this is using food to avoid negative emotions. When we feel down, drained, negative, defeated, etc. we use food to give us a quick dopamine hit that makes us feel better momentarily. The problem is, it only makes us feel better in the short-term and doesn’t ever allow us to process our emotions fully. We use buffers to hide from our emotions. But buffering also has an overall negative effect on our lives. For example, overeating to avoid emotion can cause weight gain & imbalanced hormones, which in turn makes our moods even worse! So we must stop going to food or other quick fixes to make us feel better because it never works long-term.
Things that can improve your moods
Eating a healthy, nourishing diet that balances hormones associated with PCOS.
Getting off of sugar and refined carbohydrates and focusing on eating nourishing whole foods like protein, healthy fats, and veggies can drastically improve your moods naturally. It allows the insulin levels in your bloodstream to go down, which in turn balances several other hormones associated with PCOS. Not only does this help improve your mood, but it helps improve every PCOS symptom because your hormones will begin to balance out.
Movement/Exercise
A little bit of movement each day can be like a therapy session for your body. It increases serotonin (a chemical linked to feeling good and living longer) and lowers cortisol (a stress hormone). You don’t have to go nuts at the gym every day in order to see the effects of exercise. Even a 10-minute walk can shift your mood if that’s all you have time for.
Doing thought work
Thought work can include journaling, meditating, or running models. Anything that allows you to take a step back and watch your mind think. It allows you to separate yourself from what you are thinking. When we believe we ARE our thoughts, we suffer! When you do thought work, you take your power back and are able to take control of your emotional health.
Medication
If you feel that your moods are negatively affecting your life, it may be helpful to see a doctor or psychologist. Sometimes medication is the best option and can make a huge difference in how you feel. This is a choice that only you can make, but taking medication is not something to be ashamed of or feel bad about. I say if it improves your life and helps you get out of bed in the morning…why not?
Stop trying to do it alone. Get support!
I can’t emphasize this one enough. Having someone who understands what you are going through and can guide you in the right direction is really the best gift you can give yourself. Whether that’s a coach, a therapist, a spiritual teacher, etc, surrounding yourself with positive energy and support can make all the difference in getting you where you want to be.
If you’re ready to take back the control of your emotional health and feel like yourself again, let’s get on a call and discuss! Sign up for a free strategy call with me HERE and I’ll help guide you along the path to feeling better again!
In health & happiness,
Jamie
