Why does stress delay period

Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls your period. When working correctly, your hypothalamus releases chemicals that stimulate the pituitary gland, which then stimulate your ovary to release the period-inducing hormones estrogen and progesterone.

There are many levels of stress ranging from a bad hair day to pandemics that shut you in your home for months. How stress affects your menstrual cycle is based on your unique brain and body. Estrogen and progesterone have important roles beyond menstruation.

So the first step is to rule out conditions that could be causing the period changes. Plus, people experiencing depression often shift their eating habits and experience a loss of appetite. Not eating sufficiently, and having a low body weight, are potential causes of amenorrhea, per the U. Department of Health and Human Services. If your period is irregular — or doesn't occur at all — for more than three months, you should talk to your gynecologist, Livingston says.

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It indicates a way to see more nav menu items inside the site menu by triggering the side menu to open and close. Madeleine Burry. It's normal for stress to delay a period, or even cause you to skip it entirely.

The female reproductive system can be affected, too. In fact, for some women, stress may play a role in causing irregular or missed periods. Pregnancy, cysts, tumors, hormone deficiencies , and factors other than stress can cause more than one missed period. Not much is known about the relationship between stress and periods. However, stress certainly plays a role in suppressing the functioning of the hypothalamus, which controls the pituitary gland — the body's master gland — which, in turn, controls the thyroid and adrenal glands and the ovaries; they all work together to manage hormones.

Ovarian dysfunction may lead to problems with estrogen production, ovulation, or other reproductive processes. Estrogen is an important hormone that helps build the uterine lining and prepares the body for pregnancy. Because stress can affect the part of the brain responsible for producing hormones, it can throw hormonal levels out of whack, which can lead to changes in the frequency and duration of your menstrual period.