By skyforbes 
Thyroid conditions cause fatigue, brain fog, and mood changes but are often mistaken for anxiety or depression, delaying diagnosis and treatment.
Why Thyroid Disease Is Misdiagnosed as Anxiety or Depression
The thyroid is a small gland in the neck that regulates metabolism, energy, and hormones. When it malfunctions, it can lead to thyroid disease, including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroid cancer. These conditions can produce symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, weight changes, hair loss, mood swings, and even heart irregularities.
Thyroid disease is far more common in women than men. In fact, women are 5 to 8 times more likely to develop a thyroid disorder, and thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer in women under 30 (American Thyroid Association). Despite this, the symptoms are commonly dismissed as stress or mental health issues. Patients describe years of being told they had anxiety or depression before doctors investigated their thyroid.
This overlap in symptoms explains why misdiagnosis happens so often: what looks like psychiatric distress can actually be an endocrine problem that remains untreated while the disease progresses.
Patient Stories: Misdiagnosed Thyroid Cancer That Looked Like Anxiety
An article in The Patient Story from a 30-year-old woman gained attention because it highlighted something many patients already know: doctors telling people their symptoms are “just anxiety.”
Lindsay described how her health unraveled over years. She fainted on a subway and her symptoms included hair loss, weight gain, tingling in her toes, fatigue, and brain fog. Each time she sought medical help, her complaints were minimized or attributed to stress. She was repeatedly told it was anxiety, even though her body was giving clear warning signs.
It was only after further testing that the real answer was diagnosed: thyroid cancer. Her story resonated with others because it captured the frustration of being told “it’s all in your head” while the condition got worse.
TikTok and Social Media: Women Share Thyroid Cancer Symptoms
TikTok posts really caught the media’s attention. Outlets began interviewing other women with nearly identical stories: serious thyroid symptoms explained away as stress, hormones, or lifestyle choices.
One example is Jessica Alexiou, who told POPSUGAR that she gained 25 pounds in six weeks, lost her hair, and even saw her eyebrows fall out. Her doctor told her to “eat less and exercise more” instead of further investigating. For nearly four years she was ignored and misdiagnosed, even though she knew something was wrong. Imaging eventually revealed a tumor on her thyroid. “This could have been discovered so much sooner had doctors just taken me seriously,” she said.
In the U.K., Courtney Nettleton shared in a viral TikTok that her severe fatigue, breathlessness, chest pain, and voice changes were dismissed as her being a “lazy teenager.” Only when swelling appeared in her neck did doctors order proper tests, which confirmed thyroid cancer (follicular variant papillary carcinoma) as reported in People. “Doctors genuinely made me believe my tiredness was just because I was a ‘lazy teenager,’ but I knew deep down it wasn’t normal.”
Antonia Rubio told Bailiwick Express she spent three years being told her symptoms were “anxiety or allergies.” A visible neck lump finally led to a thyroid cancer diagnosis.
These are classic thyroid red flags. Yet, many doctors routinely tell women anxiety is to blame and may even prescribe them unnecessary medication(s) as treatment.
Why Doctors Mistake Thyroid Problems for Mental Health Disorders
Anxiety and thyroid disease share overlapping symptoms: fatigue, mood swings, brain fog, appetite and sleep changes. The difference is that neurological or systemic signs like fainting, tingling extremities, or visible swelling point to an endocrine cause.
Once anxiety gets attached to a patient’s record, later complaints are filtered through that lens. Young women in particular are at risk of being told their symptoms are psychological.
Medical experts stress that anxiety should be a diagnosis of exclusion. Thyroid bloodwork and neck imaging are simple procedures that can prevent years of misdiagnosis.
Thyroid Conditions That Masquerade as Anxiety or Depression
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis misread as stress: Prevention profiled a woman whose autoimmune thyroid disorder was first labeled as anxiety and PMS. She lost weight, shed handfuls of hair, and developed insomnia, but was offered Prozac instead of thyroid tests. It took seven months and multiple doctors before she was diagnosed.
- Thyroid tumor mistaken for panic disorder: Yale Medicine reported on Kelsey, a nursing student who kept fainting and assumed she had anxiety. At urgent care she expected medication but instead was told she had a golf ball–sized thyroid tumor. Doctors explained the tumor was stimulating her sympathetic nervous system, causing symptoms that felt like panic attacks.
- Hypothyroidism mislabeled as depression: Personal accounts on Reddit show women with hair loss, lethargy, and weight gain being told it was stress until results from thyroid panels proved otherwise.
When to Worry About Thyroid Nodules and Thyroid Cancer Symptoms
Thyroid nodules are extremely common. The American Thyroid Association estimates that about half of all Americans will develop at least one thyroid nodule by age 60. Most are harmless, either fluid-filled cysts or small clusters of cells that never cause problems. Approximately 90% are benign.
Endocrinologists say that nodules usually don’t affect hormone function, even when they are cancerous. That means blood tests can look normal even if a nodule is present. Most people don’t discover them until a doctor notices one during a routine exam or an unrelated imaging test.
Nodules only become noticeable when they start interfering with normal physical function. Large nodules can press on the esophagus, making it hard to swallow, or compress nerves that control the vocal cords, leading to a hoarse voice. Only in rare cases are nodules malignant. Nodules that continue to grow, cause pain, or alter breathing and speech should always be checked out.
While most nodules remain stable, some need ongoing monitoring, may need biopsy, or other approaches to treatment if they change over time.
Lessons for Doctors, Patients, and the Public About Thyroid Misdiagnosis
For doctors: Avoid defaulting to anxiety when physical symptoms don’t match up. Thyroid testing is inexpensive, widely available, and can detect problems quickly. A complete workup should include TSH, Free T4, and sometimes thyroid antibodies. If there are physical red flags like fainting, hair loss, weight gain or loss, tingling in the fingers and toes, or a visible lump in the neck, thyroid disease should be ruled out before attributing the symptoms to mental health. Using ultrasound or repeating labs over time can prevent missed diagnoses.
For patients: Advocate for yourself. Keep a record of your symptoms, ask specifically for thyroid panels, and don’t hesitate to ask for imaging if you notice a lump, hoarseness, or difficulty swallowing. If your concerns are brushed aside, a second opinion can be life-changing. Online communities and patient stories show that persistence can be the only reason someone gets a correct diagnosis. Also, bring written notes into your appointment to make sure your concerns are heard.
For the public: Anxiety and depression are genuine health concerns, but not every case of fatigue, brain fog, or panic-like episodes originates in the mind. The thyroid influences nearly every system in the body: metabolism, mood, heart rhythm, temperature regulation, and mental clarity. If thyroid disease goes unrecognized, treatment is delayed while patients are placed on unnecessary psychiatric medications. Understanding that thyroid problems can look like anxiety or depression can help families urge loved ones to get checked out rather than settling for answers that don’t make sense.
Have you or someone you know ever been told thyroid symptoms were ‘just anxiety or depression’? What finally led to the right diagnosis?
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Read my other Medium article: The Loneliness Epidemic: Why Men and Women Are Struggling to Connect here.
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