Mood Influencer

HAPPINESS ISN’T JUST AN ACCIDENT. A MAJOR HORMONE PLAYER HAS A STRONG EFFECT ON YOUR UPS AND DOWNS, AND YOU’RE PROBABLY OVERLOOKING IT. LET’S GIVE THIS UNDER-THE-RADAR SMILE MAKER SOME ATTENTION, STAT.

- Amy Wilkinson

We all know that woman—the one who can’t help being the life of the party. (Remember parties?!) The one who seems to glide through every crowd, leaving an almost perceptible shimmer in her wake. The one who, after calling it a night, takes her shine with her—and the energy and electricity in the room drop. When it comes to the mingling of feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters inside our bodies, there’s a VIP of Vibes there too—her name is estrogen.

When her presence starts to fade, your mood begins to reflect it (even if you aren’t fully aware of it). If you’ve ever felt a little sad, a little annoyed, or just a little off for no good reason, a plummeting estrogen level could be the culprit. And while the hormone may be a key mover and shaker of your emotions, her departure doesn’t mean you have to sit everything out. Here’s how to keep grooving.

MEET *THE* HAPPY HORMONE

Estrogen does a lot more than just regulate your period. “There are estrogen receptors all over our body, including many in the brain,” says Heather Hirsch, MD, an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. So when estrogen levels rise and fall during the course of your cycle—levels increase during the first two weeks (known as the follicular phase), peak during ovulation, and decrease during the second two weeks (the luteal phase), leading into menstruation—it’s no wonder our brains feel it too. “Because estrogen has several antidepressant properties, many women will notice a boost in their mood when estrogen increases and a more depressed or anxious one when it decreases,” says Alison Hermann, MD, a psychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.