Can thyroid disorders lead to addictions?
Well no, thyroid disorder does not directly cause addiction. But it can cause vague mental symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, cognitive problems, nervousness, irritability, and fatigue that can drive a person to self-medicate with legal or illegal drugs, including alcohol, in order to feel better. Ongoing drug or alcohol use can, in turn, affect thyroid hormone levels. Drug or alcohol use appear to inhibit the liver’s ability to make the proteins that help convert T4 to T3, for instance. It can also lead to a build-up of inactive forms of thyroid hormone. And it’s speculated that low thyroid hormone activity