If you’re struggling with depression or anxiety, it might not be “just in your head.” Many medical issues that cause anxiety or depression can be screened for. These issues can mimic or trigger mood symptoms—things like thyroid imbalances, hormone changes, nutrient deficiencies, sleep disorders, chronic illness, inflammation, or even side effects from common medications. These are often missed for years, and getting proper testing can completely change the course of treatment.
Is a Medical Issue Causing Your Depression or Anxiety?
When you are depressed or anxious, you might think the first thing to try is therapy. And that makes sense, right? Well, maybe that shouldn’t be the first place you start.
Let me tell you a couple of quick stories.
A woman in Australia developed depression out of the blue. There were no big changes in her life, but then she started having stomach pain, a cough, and night sweats. Depression and memory problems followed. So, luckily, doctors did an MRI scan and found that there was a lesion on her brain. When they did surgery, the surgeon was completely shocked to find a live 3-inch parasite! This is a super rare and extreme example, and I’m not saying that any of you have this. What I am saying is that no amount of therapy would have solved this depression for her. Medical conditions frequently contribute to mental health conditions like depression, and we should just get checked for them early in the treatment plan.
Let me give you a couple more examples.
Selena Gomez has publicly shared her struggle with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression which had a lot to do with unmanaged lupus.
You may have heard Lisa Healy’s story in the news. She was treated for depression and chronic fatigue for 22 years before she was diagnosed with latent anemia. Once her iron levels were fixed, her depression and chronic fatigue went away.
I personally had super high anxiety when I was pregnant, but when I talked with my doctor about my muscle cramps, and started taking magnesium supplements, my anxiety decreased by like 50%. That low magnesium was most likely adding to my anxiety.
We just can’t ignore the massive impact our physical health has on our mental health.
So let’s talk about 6 common medical conditions that can fuel depression or anxiety, so that you can rule them out before paying for years of therapy.
Medical Issues that Cause Depression or Anxiety
There are quite a few physical (medical) conditions that can look like or contribute to mood disorders like depression and anxiety, and people often go years without realizing there’s an underlying biological cause.
This is the bio-psycho-social model of mental health. When our physical health is poor, it affects our mood. When our mental health is poor, it affects us physically, and when our environment and relationships are stressful or dangerous, that affects our mental health as well. So here are 6 areas to screen for:
1) Hormone and Endocrine Issues Linked to Depression and Anxiety
- Thyroid disorders — An underactive thyroid can mimic depression with symptoms like fatigue, low motivation, and sadness. And hyperthyroidism, which is an overactive thyroid, can cause anxiety, restlessness, and panic-like symptoms.
- Adrenal dysfunction — This is much less common than thyroid issues, but Addison’s disease, or Cushing’s syndrome can create severe mood and energy fluctuations.
- Diabetes or blood sugar dysregulation — Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can trigger irritability, anxiety, or shakiness. High blood sugar can cause fatigue and brain fog.
- Perimenopause, menopause, PMS, or PMDD — Hormone changes can significantly affect mood, sleep, and anxiety. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, (PMDD) can start in your early teens. Perimenopause can start in your early 30’s.
- Low testosterone — Testosterone levels affect men and women. When it’s low, this can really impact mood, energy, and mimic depression. And it’s easy to test for.
Talk with your doctor about ruling out hormone issues through blood tests. There really are some good medical treatments for these, from medication to hormone therapy to behavioral changes.
2) Nutrient Deficiencies: Medical Issues That Cause Depression and Fatigue
Now number two, let’s talk about nutrient deficiencies and metabolic factors.
- One of the most common is Vitamin B12 deficiency — This can cause fatigue, memory problems, low mood, and even psychosis if severe.
- Vitamin D deficiency — Linked to low mood, seasonal affective disorder, and fatigue.
- Iron deficiency or anemia — Causes fatigue, brain fog, and can mimic depression.
You can ask your doctor to run blood tests to screen for nutrient deficiencies and other conditions, and then under the guidance of your doctor consider supplementing. A few other supplements that have pretty consistent evidence behind them include magnesium, omega-3, curcumin, and Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10).
3) Sleep Disorders: A Common Cause of Anxiety and Depression
Okay, here’s the next category: sleep issues. I saw one study that showed that of people with depression and sleep disorders, 87% of them saw their depression symptoms resolve when they solved the sleep disorder. There is a massive correlation between sleep and emotional regulation.
The biggest factor is simply not prioritizing sleep. It’s like the last thing people think of, so they often get super sleep deprived and don’t realize how much that is impacting their mood. In addition to that, you could check for:
- Sleep apnea
- Restless leg syndrome
- Insomnia
- Sleep disorders, like parasomnias, sleep walking, etc.
There are a lot of non-medicinal options to get better sleep. This includes sleep hygiene, CBT-Insomnia, and if those aren’t working you can get a sleep study, or use sleep apnea devices like CPAPs. And if you’ve never worked on your sleep habits, check out my playlist on that.
4) Medications That May Cause Anxiety
Most people don’t know that there’s a lot of medications that can have side-effects that impact mood, I’m just going to list a few:
Anxiety can be exacerbated by:
- Stimulants including ADHD meds
- Thyroid medications
- Decongestants like Sudafed
- Asthma inhalers (albuterol)
- Steroids / corticosteroids such as prednisone or methylprednisolone
My sister went on a steroid and couldn’t sleep well for days, which made her super anxious.
- Certain antidepressants (Early Phase) first 1-3 weeks
- Birth control
Depression can be a side effect of these:
- Beta blockers
- Hormone medications
- Accutane (for acne)
- Corticosteroids
- Benzodiazepines (Xanex)
- Blood pressure meds
- Opioids
- Statins (rare)
Now please, don’t just quit taking your meds. Mental health is complex and there are a lot of factors to consider. Not everyone experiences these side effects—some people feel better on these meds. But if someone’s anxiety or depression started soon after starting or changing a medication, that’s a clue worth discussing with a prescriber. The whole point here is to look at your health holistically, with your doctor.
It’s also worth noting that caffeine, alcohol, or drug use or withdrawal can cause anxiety, depression, or sleep changes.
5) Chronic Illnesses and Depression
Trauma and mental health conditions are correlated with autoimmune conditions and other chronic illnesses.
- Autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis) can affect the brain and mood through inflammation.
- Chronic infections or inflammation — long COVID, Lyme disease, or Epstein-Barr virus reactivation may trigger fatigue and depression.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic pain conditions — Fibromyalgia or migraines often overlap with mood and anxiety disorders.
And lastly…
6) Neurological Causes of Anxiety
- Head injuries (concussions) — These may lead to mood and personality changes.
- Neurodegenerative conditions — Diseases such as early Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s sometimes first show up as mood symptoms.
Testing for Medical Issues That Cause Depression or Anxiety
So on a practical level, if it’s possible that a medical issue is the cause of your depression or anxiety, what should you do?
I’ll tell you what not to do: don’t just take a gazillion supplements! And don’t take your symptoms down an online rabbit hole.
Medical professionals should be your first step in determining whether a physical problem is at the root of your depression or anxiety. They can screen for everything I’ve talked about in this video. They can work with you to customize a plan which may or may not include supplements or changing medication.
You could tell them about your issues with mood and ask them to run some tests. Here are some tests that would screen the more common issues:
- CBC (complete blood count)
- Comprehensive metabolic panel
- Thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4)
- Vitamin D, B12, and folate
- Ferritin and iron studies
- Blood glucose and HbA1c
- Possibly hormone levels (cortisol, estrogen, testosterone, etc.)
- Sleep study if fatigue or snoring is present
Also talk with your doctor about options to improve your overall health, because anything you can do to improve your physical health can help improve your mental health and vice versa.
I hope I saved some of you from years of therapy when what you really needed was a CPAP machine!
Thanks for watching and take care!!
