Can Testosterone Help With Depression?

Depression is a condition which can be brought about by many things, but it appears that one possible factor for depression in men is low testosterone.

Does that mean that taking testosterone booster supplements or other testosterone boosting chemicals can help with depression? 

Depression – The Confusing Science

Depression affects, at least, 16 million adults each year in the United States alone, yet, it’s a condition about which we know surprisingly little. 

One thing that we do know is that it’s twice as common in women as it is in men. 

Another thing we know is that many current medical treatments don’t work for depression for a significant percentage of sufferers, no matter how long they take them for or how many different drugs they try. 

Testosterone has been proposed as a potential treatment for depression in men but there’s also some confusing science in regard to that.

Testosterone And Depression – The Muddy Link

There have been quite a few studies which have examined testosterone and its link to depression. 

This isn’t “pie in the sky” speculative science, it’s clearly demonstrated that testosterone production and mood in men are related, so it follows that depression might be linked to low testosterone.

Unfortunately, the results are muddy, at best. Some studies found no link at all, some found clear links between depression and testosterone, and others found links but only within some groups of men. 

So, Can Testosterone Help With Depression? 

Well, the formal recommendation is “no, testosterone should not be used to treat depression.” However, it’s important to realize that this is a generic recommendation – it’s certainly true that testosterone is not going to help all forms of depression. 

And one group of researchers felt that this seemed to be a strange thing to say when no-one had done a meta-analysis of the research on testosterone and depression.

So, they did one and then they published the results in JAMA Psychiatry. 

Yes, Testosterone Might Help With Depression

The meta-analysis took into account 27 studies, with nearly 2,000 participants and they found that testosterone was “moderately successful as an antidepressant”. 

One super interesting part of their findings was that it didn’t matter what your original testosterone levels were – testosterone was moderately successful in all cases. 

In fact, the researchers concluded, “Testosterone treatment appears to be effective and efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms in men, particularly when higher-dosage regimens were applied in carefully selected samples.”

So, testosterone might help with depression, particularly in men, and that means it can’t hurt to try a testosterone booster to see if it helps with yours. 

You can find all natural testosterone booster supplements on our list and not only may they help with depression, they may also help you with any symptoms of low testosterone you may be suffering from too. 

Of course, it’s important that you talk to a doctor if you decide to try any other form of testosterone therapy as you will need a prescription for that kind of intervention. 

Final Thoughts On Testosterone And Depression

The science isn’t 100% clear, yet, and more research is needed but it appears that testosterone can help with depression and it certainly cannot hurt to try testosterone boosters to alleviate symptoms of depression. 

We’d also note that mental toughness has been linked to the ability to better manage depression and you can try these free exercises to improve your mental toughness, today.