Disorders of the Endocrine system
The disorders of the endocrine system are caused by an increase or decrease in hormonal levels. The most common disorder of the endocrine system is diabetes, which is caused by having an adrenal insufficiency in cortisol and aldosterone, which may have adverse effects on the patient (Audoze, Sarigiannis, Alonso, Brochot, Cass, Vrijheid,2020). Growth disorder is caused by changes in the release of growth hormone. A child’s bones may grow abnormally if there is too much growth hormone production by the pituitary gland. If less is produced, then the child may stop growing. When the pituitary gland releases little or no hormones, leading to women not having periods. There are also structural disorders of the endocrine system that may include brain tumors or injury of the spinal cord. One may also have a genetic disorder that will affect hormone release (Alghamad, Hunt, Thomas,2013).
Endocrine system disorder has symptoms that vary from fatigue to back pain, weakness, and diarrhea, depending on the involved gland. The decreased production of cortisol and aldosterone may lead to a high craving for salt and missed menstrual periods. When there is too much production of the growth gland, there is a deep voice and large growth of hands and feet. When you have diabetes, there is excessive thirst and nausea. When thyroxine is produced in excess, the heartbeat will be faster than normal. (Audoze and others,2020). However, these symptoms sometimes appear like psychological symptoms.
Whenever there is a hormonal imbalance, this affects your mental health. Patients may experience acute stress, which involves the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The hypothalamic-pituitary system works with the central nervous system so as to achieve a sense of psychological equilibrium. The lack of the required psychological equilibrium may result in depression and anxiety in psychology patients, Symptoms associated with the disorders of the endocrine system. This is mostly seen in patients that have hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, whereby the state of their mental health is unpredictable. It comes with a change in appetite, loss of interest and pleasure, and sleeping pattern disturbances. Irritability, a symptom associated with a disorder in the endocrine glands, has been found to occur in around 80% of patients that have a psychological disorder(Campos, Casado,2015).
There is a clear interrelationship between hormonal imbalance and psychological factors. The majority of psychiatrists rarely perform a physical examination on the patients since they say this may change the therapeutic dynamic. Often, the patients may not have been able to have access to the areas where the physical examination could be carried out. And they may not have the ability to explain the symptoms by themselves. Focusing on just the mental symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis with the disease of the endocrine system and other diseases (Audoze and others, 2020). For example, a 58-year-old male was brought by the Emergency Medical Service to the Emergency Department. The patient was said to have mental symptoms associated with depression and anxiety, such as lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and a change in the sleeping pattern. The psychiatrist was quick to diagnose him with mental health illness.
Herpes Simplex Encephalitis is a condition that can present itself with an altered mental status and meningal signs. There is also agitation, hallucinations, paranoia, and changes in your personality. Neuroleptic Malignant Symptom carries the same symptoms as HSE (Campos, Casado,2015). Physicians carrying out treatment of patients with this diagnosis should rule out the possibility of endocrine system disorders early since late diagnosis may lead to loss of life.
References
Audouze, K., Sarigiannis, D., Alonso-Magdalena, P., Brochot, C., Casas, M., Vrijheid, M., . . . Barouki, R. (2020). Integrative strategy of testing systems for identification of endocrine disruptors inducing metabolic Disorders—An introduction to the OBERON project. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(8), 2988. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21082988
Campos, C., & Casado, Á. (2015). Oxidative stress, thyroid dysfunction & down syndrome. The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 142(2), 113-119. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0971-5916.164218
Alghamd, M., Hunt, N., & Thomas, S. (2013). Prevalence rate of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and other psychological disorders among saudi firefighters. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 4 Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/docview/1629460702?accountid=45049