Maybe It’s Not ‘In Your Head’

Jan 22

TL;DR – Maybe It’s Not ‘In Your Head’

Anxiety and depression are not always emotional or spiritual problems. Often, they are physiological.

In many midlife women, symptoms like anxiety, depression, panic, brain fog, low mood, and even OCD-like thinking are driven by biochemical imbalances, not unresolved trauma or energetic blocks.

Common contributors include:

Low iron and ferritin
Thyroid dysfunction and Hashimoto’s
B-vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Hormone imbalance in perimenopause
Blood sugar instability
Gut infections, parasites, or inflammation
Poor detox and liver congestion
Mold, heavy metals, or chronic inflammatory load

You cannot mindset your way out of nutrient depletion, thyroid dysfunction, or iron deficiency.

When labs are interpreted only through conventional ‘normal’ ranges, critical patterns are often missed. Functional medicine optimal ranges matter.

True healing requires honoring every layer of the human system – physical, emotional, mental, energetic, and spiritual. When we include the body instead of bypassing it, clarity, vitality, and emotional stability become possible again.

FULL ARTICLE

I want to share something with you that I read this summer, because it stayed with me as a Midlife Mentor & Coach …

A sweet soul asked in another Facebook group something that genuinely poked my heart. It simply said:

‘Who else here struggles with anxiety/depression and just doesn’t know why?’

The comments came pouring in. Dozens and dozens – probably 75 or more – of thoughtful, well-intentioned replies offering things like plant medicine journeys, ancestral clearing, inner child work, hypnotherapy, EFT tapping, Reiki, somatic release, nervous system regulation, chakra balancing, shadow work, trauma resolution.

Every one of these can be supportive. Many of them truly help people. They absolutely have their place.

And…

Not one person in that entire thread mentioned the physical body.

Not a single one.

No one asked about ferritin levels.
No one asked about B12 status.
No one asked about blood sugar stability.
No one asked about thyroid function or Hashimoto’s.
No one asked about gut bacteria, parasites, or absorption.

And this matters, because sometimes the root cause of emotional suffering is not spiritual or energetic.

Often it’s biochemical.

Anxiety and depression don’t always come from something that needs to be released.
They often come from something that needs to be replenished!!!

They come from a depleted nervous system, a burned-out endocrine system, a crashed adrenal system, a starving brain, an inflamed gut, a chronically stressed liver, a history of dieting and restriction, or a buildup of toxins the body cannot clear on its own.

These states create the sensations we label as hopelessness, panic, racing thoughts, shutdown, overwhelm, detachment, even obsessive compulsive or intrusive thinking.

And in spiritual communities, when these sensations are present day after day, it’s very easy to assume something is wrong with our psyche, our energy body, our chakras, or our vibration.

So I want to say out loud what I wish someone had said clearly in that thread.

Here are just some of the physical contributors to anxiety and depression, through a functional medicine lens:
• Low iron and ferritin, which is extremely common in menstruating women, perimenopausal women, vegans, vegetarians, and anyone with poor absorption
• B vitamin imbalances, especially B12, B6, and folate, particularly in those with MTHFR or related SNPs
• Thyroid dysfunction, including Hashimoto’s and poor conversion of T4 to T3
• Low progesterone in midlife, often creating estrogen dominance and internal agitation
• Unstable blood sugar, which can feel exactly like panic or anxiety
• Parasites or gut infections that inflame the gut-brain axis
• Leaky gut and systemic inflammation
• Heavy metals stored in tissues
• Mold or mycotoxin exposure, especially when fatigue and brain fog are present
• Chronic inflammation from food sensitivities or environmental load
• Histamine intolerance or MCAS, which can show up as sudden panic, rashes, fatigue, or digestive distress
• Sluggish liver detox pathways leading to estrogen overload
• Copper excess or zinc deficiency, which directly impacts neurotransmitters
• Nutrient-depleted diets lacking amino acids, minerals, fats, and phytonutrients
• Mitochondrial dysfunction, where low cellular energy leads to low mood
• Sleep disruption, which destabilizes every hormonal rhythm in the body
• Low stomach acid causing malabsorption
• Sensitivity to electromagnetic exposure in some individuals
• Blood sugar crashes from caffeine on an empty stomach
• Unaddressed viral load such as EBV reactivation
• Impaired methylation pathways, including COMT variants, which affect how stress hormones and neurotransmitters are processed

And this is still only PART of the picture!!!

For many of the women I work with in Midlife, low ferritin and thyroid dysfunction are NOT minor details. They are MAJOR drivers of anxiety, depression, and even OCD-like symptoms. And many people are prescribed SSRIs while being deficient in iron, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, or thyroid support – the very nutrients required for neurotransmitter balance!

You cannot mindset your way out of iron deficiency…
You cannot journal your way out of methylation issues…
You cannot affirm your way out of mold exposure or bacterial overgrowth!!!

Sometimes the most grounded, responsible, and even spiritual thing you can do is run labs, ensure that they are interpreted through functional medicine optimal ranges ( which is not what your primary care physician is going to do !) and get accurate information for the best next steps for you.

And when you do, it matters deeply that they are interpreted through functional medicine optimal ranges (saying this twice because this is so darn important !),

NOT conventional averages drawn from already-unwell populations.

Most of the women I meet with in Midlife have spent 1 to 2 years – often longer – getting lab work done through their primary care doctor, fully covered by insurance, only to be told some version of: ‘Everything looks normal. I don’t see anything here.’ And yet they feel exhausted, anxious, flat, wired, depressed, or unlike themselves.

That disconnect is NOT imagined – it is THE problem!

When labs are interpreted only through conventional ‘normal’ ranges drawn from a largely unwell population, subtle but significant deficiencies and patterns get missed. (YES, i’m now literally saying this for a third time. It’s this important to understand !)

This is one of the primary reasons so many women in Midlife end up prescribed SSRIs when what they actually need is physiological support, replenishment, and a clearer understanding of what their body is asking for.

We are not here to feel ‘meh’…
We are here to feel vital, awake, clear, and resourced.
Fatigue, burnout, hair loss, bloating, anxiousness are not ‘normal’ , yes, so many women in midlife suffer silently with this and compensate with caffeine restricted eating and expensive supplements that can’t reverse hair loss that’s rooted in something much deeper.

So please please please - be wary of ‘spiritual educators’ who bypass the body in the name of emotional or spiritual healing.

Sometimes the problem isn’t trauma.
It’s ferritin under 30.

Or a sluggish thyroid in perimenopause.
Or a nervous system that hasn’t had magnesium, B6, or choline in weeks.
Or a gene pathway like COMT that needs gentler inputs and steadier rhythms.

This is why I teach what I teach, and why I continue to say this as plainly and straightforwardly as I can;

Great Energy begins with wholeness across EVERY layer – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic.

And, when we leave the body behind, we bypass one of the most important and sacred portals to our personal evolution.

One final note that feels important to include here…
(I’m almost done - thank you for staying with me so far!)

A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that approximately 64 percent of individuals diagnosed with depression were ALSO anemic, compared to only 16 percent in healthy controls.

Another large cohort study showed that people with iron deficiency anemia had a 52 percent higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression, and that iron supplementation was associated with reduced risk.

Functional medicine practitioners often consider ferritin levels below 50 to 70 ng/mL as suboptimal and deficient, even if they are labeled ‘normal’.

Addressing iron deficiency alone can be a crucial step toward restoring emotional stability and vitality.

If you’re reading this and wondering what your own body might be asking for, that curiosity is worth listening to.

Symptoms are a language. They’re a form of communication, not something to push past or override.

If you or someone you love is experiencing some of what I’ve described above and would like help understanding how this might apply to your own situation, I’m happy to have a consult and talk it through with you.

You can schedule a time to connect with me here