Hormones and Psychiatric Disorders

As integrated organisms, human beings have several specific information-communicating systems, two of which are the nervous and the endocrine systems. Although these two systems are considered to be separate entities, they exhibit considerable overlap and mutuality. Both systems are essential for adaptation to environmental changes and for maintenance of internal homeostasis. The area of biological research dealing with the interaction between these two systems is referred to as“psychoneuroendocrinology.” In a clinical situation, a problem in one system may result in a derangement in the other, and vice versa. This close interaction tends to make clinical features more complex. In this review, we present some real patient cases, in which the endocrine and psychiatric conditions influenced each other, and briefly review topics in psychoneuroendocrinology. Finally, we present a more theoretical approach.