While I don't doubt that the stress can affect hormones, I wonder if they are not finding more thyroid problems in part because they are looking for them (when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail).

I think doctors are so reluctant to diagnose thyroid disease, and here is a study willing to acknowledge it exists. I wonder if they used the same standards to identify thyroid problems as your typical suspicious-of-thyroid-problems GP or perhaps more generous guidelines?

No doubt, though, that childhood abuse and neglect leave their mark for a lifetime in so many ways, leading to increased cortisol - and its effects - where we might not otherwise see it.