Is Progesterone for Depression effective?
The only study of the effect of natural progesterone on women with depression was carried out with 10 mothers with post-natal depression. Progesterone was not effective. However, there were serious problems with the way the study was designed. Better studies are needed before we can decide if progesterone is useful for post-natal depression. There are no scientific studies of the effect of progesterone on women with depression near or after menopause. Nor are there any studies of the effect of progesterone for women with depressive symptoms just before their period. However, research has consistently shown that natural progesterone does not improve mood in women suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome in general.
