How a Gratitude Mindset Can Help PCOS Symptoms
In light of the holiday season, someone close to me gently challenged me to think about whether there was a way to express gratitude for my PCOS.
Gratitude?
I thought… how could I possibly express gratitude for something that I felt had worked against me for my entire life? How could I possibly switch the narrative to see this as something positive?
What the Science Says
It turns out, this person’s encouragement was based on scientific evidence that expressing gratitude has the potential to change our brains. This was not news to me, I had heard this before, but I decided to dive a bit deeper into what else this entailed. What surprised me was the fact that expressing gratitude actually had the potential to benefit some of my PCOS symptoms.
What is Gratitude’s Effect on the Brain and Body?
Harvard Medical School defines gratitude as a thankful appreciation for what we receive in a way that demonstrates the source of goodness is external. Acknowledging that external source, and being grateful for it, connects us to a greater meaning, and something larger than ourselves. Evidence from a functional MRI study also proved that expressing and receiving gratitude activates various regions of the brain, and even engages the brain’s reward pathway. Effectively, gratitude produces the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. We know dopamine and serotonin as the “feel good” or pleasure neurotransmitters. But what else is at play for these two?
Dopamine and PCOS
Let’s start with dopamine. Researchers have found that dopamine is not only one of our pleasure chemicals, but it also plays a key role in modulating behavior and cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, inhibiting prolactin production, sleep, dreams, mood, attention, working memory and learning. Wow. It’s no secret that PCOS impacts just about everything in that list, right?
I wanted to dive further into inhibiting prolactin production. I found this fascinating. If prolactin levels are higher than normal, irregular periods and infertility can result. So…if gratitude can increase dopamine, and dopamine can help normalize prolactin levels, could the simple act of exploring how to be grateful for my PCOS help with irregular periods and infertility? Budding research from the University of Tsukuba in Japan also show that transient increases in dopamine seem to facilitate the transition from one sleep state to another, meaning for example moving from a state of not dreaming, to a state of dreaming, and to a state of waking. I began to question whether an issue with dopamine levels could be contributing to my troubled sleeping patterns.
Serotonin and PCOS
What about serotonin? Serotonin also influences learning, memory, sleep and happiness, similar to dopamine. In addition, serotonin regulates body temperature, sexual desire, digestion, hunger, nausea, wound healing and bone health. Woah. And, did you know that 90% of our body’s serotonin is in the gut? If we consume something irritating or toxic, our bodies can actually increase the amount of serotonin in the gut to speed the digestion process to rid the body of these toxins.
This fascinated me. We hear so much about these neurotransmitters in terms of the “happiness” or “pleasure” chemicals they release for us, but what about everything else? What if I had just heard the term “insulin resistance” ten million times too many with respect to my PCOS to explain away my cravings, but really it was imbalanced serotonin levels causing my appetite to act like a hyperactive child?
Hm, I had some thinking to do…
So, all said and done, if expressing gratitude produces both serotonin and dopamine in my body, could a shift in mindset actually help to modulate all of the functions that dopamine and serotonin play a role in? Now that’s the kind of scientific motivation a skeptic like myself needs to see a “gratitude practice” as something worthwhile, and something that could tangibly and positively influence:
Period regularity
Restful sleep
Working memory
Attention to detail
Mood and emotions
Motivation to be productive
Voluntary movement
Learning
Reproductive function
Digestion
Appetite
Well, here it goes…4 Reasons I’m Grateful for PCOS
1. I’m grateful to my PCOS for helping me to learn about my body
Without PCOS, I never would have explored the ins and outs of who I am in “medical” terms, and how that relates to both who I was as a child, and who I am today - what are my dreams, ambitions, and who do I want to be tomorrow? And, why? I would not have learned about the way all of my conditions complement each other - the way my PCOS shares similarities with my hypothyroidism, or the link between my PCOS and acne, or the way I am predisposed to anxiety. I never would have gone on an investigative journey to validate what I deemed as my “normal” for so long, to uncover that the weight struggles I’ve always suffered were not due to laziness or lack of self control. I would not know what to be on the lookout for, what I can prevent, and what I need to accept.
2. I’m grateful that my PCOS opened my skeptic eyes to lifestyle as medicine
Without PCOS, - I wouldn’t know the way my diet can influence my anxiety, my asthma, and my energy levels. I would not have discovered the ways certain neural pathways were constructed out of necessity for survival, and that influenced everything from the foods I reached for to the core beliefs I held true to my inner being. I would not know what inspired my dreams and goals, and what often held me back. I never would have understood why psychological safety was necessary for healing the physical. I never would have understood how childhood circumstances can impact adult relationships. Without PCOS, I would not understand how holistic health truly is.
3. I’m grateful that my PCOS awarded me a sense of purpose
Without PCOS, I never would have started to write again. My PCOS has awarded me the opportunity to relate to strangers across every vein of life - from a manager whose wife struggled with PCOS, to a masseuse whose PCOS led to weight issues her whole life, to a classmate who felt seen and heard by someone whose struggles matched her own. The ability, and willingness, to speak openly about my PCOS, has fostered connections with individuals I wouldn’t have imagined having a sort of deep, spiritual bond with. It has encouraged thousands of others to realize they are not alone. And if I can play a role in facilitating that, I know I’m not doing this for nothing.
4. I’m grateful that my PCOS gave me certain challenges in life, such as weight struggles and acne
This one I’ve long struggled with. I questioned why I was different, why my friends or the people around me could eat whatever they wanted to without gaining weight, and why I suffered no matter what I ate. But today I can truly say I’m grateful for it. I would not be who I am today without having felt like an outcast during adolescence because of my body image or self confidence issues from weight and acne. Experiencing a sense of “otherness” taught me deep compassion for people who are different, do not follow the status quo, or are otherwise rejected by society. It’s something I’ve brought into adulthood that I am confident I would not have a deep sense of “knowing” had I not experienced a feeling of not belonging.
Takeaways
Mindset shifts are more powerful than we realize and can have physical implications
Having a perspective of gratitude can apply to any area of life, not just your PCOS
Our mindset and intentions are just one piece of the holistic health puzzle and should be considered