I have read some people say that when you get HRT it helps with depression because your brain is getting the hormone it was expecting. Can the HRT help in the actual brain, or is it just looking more like your true gender that makes you feel better? I have pretty bad depression and was wondering if getting the right hormone sorts your brain out/makes you less depressed?

It can help or make it worst.

Each deals with changes in the body different.

We need to take steps as we feel they are needed and find if they work.

Work close with your therapist on the changes that can happen. Make adjustments also if needed.

It seems to be a bit of both. I got my first T shot October 8th and since I got it, I felt right as rain for the first week but I'm not sure if it was either my brain was starved for T or it was just a psychological effect of knowing that I'm finally going to see progress, hence decreasing my depressed feelings. You could also argue it was the T shot, at least I could because it's my 2nd week, the shot is starting to wear off and I feel rather sluggish and easy to annoy again...

It all depends why you are depressed. If it is caused by gender dysphoria then yes there is a reasonable chance that hrt can alleviate your depression. If your dysphoria exacerbates your depression then you might find some relief maybe not much it all really depends.

The important thing is you NEED to use hrt under medical supervision. IF in your case hrt does make your depression worse you need a doctor to be able to make sure nothing bad happens.

For me.......no not all!

It really depends on the person, their body chemistry and the underlying reason/s for depression.

I would expect it to work like this: easing the depression from not having the HRT for so long as it slowly starts to cause the desired changes, but also redirecting the depression due to the chemical shift that's taking place, so you just end up being far more emotional than usual until you get used to it. I don't know, though, but I'll be finding out soon.

For me it was a mixed bag.  Emotionally I felt a bit better.  Physically, my feeling of dysphoria actually went up.  Everyone is different.  I would say mentally prepare for the worst, hope for the best. 

Sometimes I've seen that depression kind of gets a "life of it's own" so to speak, where even if you are depressed due to being trans (and untreated) that you might continue to be depressed. I've also seen that the discrimination, etc. still continues in our society. But some people seem to get quite a lot less depressed. I actually was not depressed (fortunately) when I started T.

--Jay

I had depression that was gender related. Now that I have been on T for 1 week, I feel very much at ease. The day of my very first shot was a day filled with mix emotions, my pharmacist was giving me problems, my doctor called me to say how sorry he was that I was going through all the trouble and took care of the pharmacist. I got my T and went home. Withing 30 min of picking up my T I was injecting it into myself as instructed by my doctor. After the shot I was happy, but had things to do. It wasn't until 3 hours that I stopped and felt the tightness of my chest finally relax. My mood changed and since then I have had no anxiety and a lot more self control. The changes are happening quickly and I couldn't be more happy. Finally I am feeling like myself. I also now can associate with my own reflection. It wasn't until day 5 that I could associate with my reflection and shadow. My HRT treatment has been amazing. I'm so proud of myself to going through with everything that I needed to go through to get to this point. For me, it means the world.

It help me a lot. When I started I was probably mildly depressed and HRT was good. More recently I became really depressed and it was getting worse, so much so that I was scared where it was going. I increased my HRT from low dose to a much higher transitioning dose, and I'm feeling fantastic. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel this good, its kind of euphoric. I sure hope it lasts.