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Testosterone therapy for men: craze or cure?
by Anna Sandner
Testosterone therapy and depression – is there a link?
29.8.2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Testosterone is the subject of much debate – it’s said to boost energy and libido and have an antidepressant effect. But are we right to believe the hype around this messenger substance people's results from self-medication? Dr Andreas Walther from University of Zurich, who’s an expert in this field, has the answers.
But what do the experts say, does a lack of testosterone actually make you depressed? Is hormone therapy as effective as some fitness influencers and manufacturers suggest? If so, what are the risks? To gain more clarity about this complex topic, I spoke to Dr Andreas Walther. As a psychotherapist and hormone expert, he speaks about the latest developments in science and why uninformed self-medication can sometimes do men more harm than good.
What about mood? How does testosterone affect your mental health?
Testosterone can directly affect your mood, but it also has an indirect effect. If you’re experiencing an increased libido and act upon it (i.e. have more sex), this will have a positive effect on your mood. Or you might be more physically active because of increased testosterone, which will make you feel better.
We also know from studies conducted on mice that testosterone promotes the survival of neuronal cells. As an anabolic hormone, it supports new connections in the brain, which can be helpful in individuals with depression. For example, if a man has depressive thought patterns and then forms new neuronal connections, they’ll survive better if there’s more testosterone in his system.
Testosterone also inhibits your stress response system. High levels of testosterone reduce the release of stress hormones and slow down inflammatory processes. What’s more, testosterone activates your serotonin system, on which modern-day antidepressants are based.
Did you know: Testosterone has an effect on symptoms of depression regardless of whether the respective men originally had low or regular testosterone levels. In other words, men without hypogonadism (testosterone deficiency) also benefited from it.
We were dealing with younger men aged between 25 and 50 with first-time depression without other mental or physical illnesses. We didn’t see that these depressed men had lower testosterone levels. In fact, in some cases the healthy controls even had lower levels. We searched intensively for hypogonadal men (men with testosterone deficiency) among the depressed men, but found none.
It’s been proven that testosterone has a positive effect regardless of the actual level, so why isn’t it simply prescribed to all men with depression?
This was my first thought, too. But the problem with hormones is:
Once you start dabbling with your hormone balance, it can easily become unstable.
If you’re constantly supplying your body with additional testosterone, it’s going to think it has enough and will stop producing it. The body’s long-term ability to release testosterone itself may then become inhibited to such an extent that it may not be able to get back on track when you stop supplementing.
That’s why I’d advise all men against supplementing testosterone if they have normal values. There’s no reason for this.
There are other risks, too. If an undetected prostate carcinoma is present and testosterone is administered, the growth of cancer cells can be promoted.
I strongly advise against experimenting with hormones without medical supervision.
Intervening in these complex systems is risky. And if you’re ordering pills online, you won’t know what’s in them.
As long as there’s no solid research, i.e. really large, controlled studies with different patient groups, blanket testosterone therapy for depression remains wishful thinking. It’s an exciting field with untapped potential. But there’s still a lot of research to be done.
Header image: Akarawut/Shutterstock
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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