STRESS AND PSYCHICAL CHANGES AS THE CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE OF HYPERTHYROIDISM Introduction

Psychoendocrinology is part of the current association of psychosomatic and liaison psychiatry that studies the psychical origin of somatisation and treats psychical changes occurring in the course of a somatic illness (1). The main concern of psychoendocrinology is endocrinologal diseases, where psychical disorders may precede the illness or appear as its ensuing manifestation The presence of combined psychosomatic symptomatology can often mask the primary diagnosis, and regardless of whether psychical changes are the cause or the consequence, in both cases we deal with the phenomenon of psychoendocrinal syndrome (2). Hyperthyroidism as well as hypotireoidism have their recognizable psychical manifestations, thyroidal hormones used for therapeutically purposes can affect certain psychological states, and, vice versa, various medicaments used for mental illness treatments can infl uence the function of the thyroid gland (3,4).