People Who’ve Been Through Deep Depression Know These 5 Body Symptoms Too Well
These physical signs silently echo the weight of deep depression for those who've lived through it.
Ivan Samkov | Pexels The hormone cortisol is the less famous cousin of the neurotransmitter serotonin. If you’ve heard of cortisol, it was likely associated with long-term stress, and it has certainly had its bad rap in that department. The reason for cortisol’s infamy is due to the effects of ongoing high levels have on your body.
Some scary things happen to your body during depression. When you’re depressed and your cortisol levels are soaring when they should be at rest. Research from the American Psychological Association examined the relationship between cortisol and depression and found that cortisol was related to depression onset, recurrence, resolution, and continued vulnerability to reveal a complex association between cortisol and depression.
People who've been through depression know these five body symptoms too well:
1. Decreased immunity
Cortisol is essential to life, and we all have high levels of cortisol at times. We get a spike of cortisol in the mornings to help us snap out of sleep and get the day going with a bit of zest. Yet, cortisol could also make you more likely to pick up infections.
According to The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, "Both stress and depression have been associated with impaired immune function and increased susceptibility of the patient to infectious diseases and cancer. It is now apparent that adaptive changes result from chronic stress and depression that lead to a hypoactivity of the glucocorticoid receptors on immune cells and in limbic regions of the brain."
2. Insomnia
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Think of cortisol as your body’s natural morning cup of coffee. Usually, your cortisol levels will peter out over the day, leaving you feeling tired and restful by bedtime. This is also why when you’re depressed, it's usually worst in the morning and improves as the day goes on.
It’s your cup of coffee, remember, so high levels of cortisol outside of your morning routine may leave you feeling restless and unable to settle at night. A 2023 study in Sleep Science showed "Higher insomnia severity was associated with higher morning cortisol, depression, and tension-anxiety."
3. Increased belly fat
Cortisol can make it almost impossible to lose those extra pounds, particularly around your midsection. A 2002 study found "Hypercortisolemic depressed patients suffer from insulin resistance and increased visceral fat. The fact that hypercortisolemia reverses depression-related fat loss, particularly in the visceral area, might partially explain why major depression can be considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disorders."
4. Aging faster
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Cortisol breaks down muscle and connective tissue, making you look older faster. Research published in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience stated, "Major depressive disorder is characterized by a surfeit of potentially destructive mediators and an insufficiency of protective or restorative ones. These factors interact in increasing the likelihood of physical disease and of accelerated aging at the cellular level."
5. Decreased thyroid activation
Cortisol affects your thyroid levels, which can lead to constipation, dry skin, fatigue, and even changes in your menstrual cycle. The Journal of Thyroid Research said, "Patients with thyroid disorders are more prone to develop depressive symptoms and conversely depression may be accompanied by various subtle thyroid abnormalities."
Now, this list may make you feel even more depressed than you already were, and that is not my intention.
You see, there’s a simple little trick to lowering your cortisol levels quickly, which will not only alleviate your depression somewhat but will also safeguard you against these negative effects of cortisol on your body.
If you hold a power pose (standing with your hands on your hips and chest out, or putting your arms up in the victory position like you just won a race, for example) for just two minutes drops your cortisol levels by around 25 percent.
That's a quarter of those negative effects banished by spending just two minutes of your time caring for your body. Try it now. Do it every hour. Make it a daily habit.
Depression may have the ability to do scary things to your body, but it is still your body, and you get to decide how far that goes. Nature never gives us a negative without also giving us the means to counteract it.
Mia Von Scha is a transformational parenting coach, author, and counselor who helps parents overcome the fear of failure and navigate anxiety, as well as other mental health issues.
