Slayer's Den

[01dragonslayer]

by Chris Shugart​

Low T and Emotional Distress​

Feeling angry, irritable, or sad? Maybe it's your circumstances, but maybe it's something else.​

Check out these statements. On a scale from 1 to 7 – with 1 being "not true at all" and 7 being "very true" – how do you feel?

1. I feel angry.
2. I'm irritable.
3. I feel nervous and I'm not sure why.
4. I'm kinda sad.
5. I feel tired.
6. I feel alert and ready to go.
7. I'm feeling friendly.
8. I feel energetic and peppy.
9. I feel good (overall positive sense of well-being).

As you can tell, if you score high on the first five questions, your mood is not so good. If you score high on the last four questions and low on the previous questions, your mood is good. The ratio math gets trickier, but you get the gist.

This is an example of a Likert rating scale. Researchers use these scales before, during, and after various interventions. An "intervention" is whatever the researchers do between the time you first answer the questions and the last time. It could be a drug, supplement, therapy technique, exercise, or anything else.

This questionnaire above was used in a study on men with low testosterone. The intervention was, you guessed it, testosterone replacement therapy. You can probably guess this part too: when the men were treated with testosterone (100 to 200mg weekly), their moods improved.

Just three weeks into this 60-day study, they were happier and less pissy. It's no surprise that their energy levels were up, but many are surprised to see that the men were less angry and irritable. They were, in fact, friendlier and calmer.

But isn't testosterone the "aggression" hormone? Doesn't it cause men to rage out? Well, given your pre-existing personality (how much of an a-hole you already are), high doses of testosterone taken when you don't have low T might contribute to some boorish behaviors. However, the men in this study had been diagnosed with low T: hypogonadism.

At least ten other studies found that TRT was a mood booster and relieved depressive symptoms.


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The T Boost Did Something Else Too​

This is correlational, but the researchers pointed it out: the men also improved their sexual motivation and performance.

"Sexual motivation" means they anticipated and desired sex. They flirted more and had sexual daydreams. "Sexual performance" means, well, exactly what you think it means. This led the scientists to write, "The improvement in mood might be related to the changes in sexual function."

Testosterone administration is definitely related to increased serotonin release and neuroplasticity, so it probably wasn't just their revved-up sex lives that gave them a mood boost. But hey, it certainly didn't hurt.

Moods and Men​

Men express mood issues and depression differently than women. Where women are more likely to feel generally sad, men can feel angry and irritable. Obviously, the causes of mood issues are many, and testosterone isn't a cure-all. However, it makes sense to get your T levels checked before you hop onto antidepressant drugs.

A Natural Boost​

In the study above, a healthy testosterone boost improved mood and sexual function. While these men had low T, any dip in testosterone might affect your mood, even if you don't drop into the hypogonadal range (generally, less than 300 ng/dL). Stress, poor sleep, overtraining, dieting, drinking booze, and getting sick can all make your testosterone levels take a temporary nosedive.

If you experience any of those things, take note of your mood, then try this experiment: take 300 mg per day of Longjack (also called Tongkat Ali and Eurycoma) for a few days and see if you start to feel better despite any external or situational factors.