Women’s Health in Psychiatry

The goal of Women’s Health in Psychiatry is to help busy psychiatrists keep up-to-date on the clinical aspects of women's mental health. To that end, the journal provides practitioners with current and authoritative practical clinical information about the full spectrum of psychiatric conditions that affect women throughout their lives.

Why Women’s Health in Psychiatry?

Because:

• At least 7 million women in the U.S. are currently estimated to be suffering from a diagnosable depression.
  
• Women are more than twice as likely as men to experience major depression.
  
• Women are also more likely than men to suffer from milder forms of depression and from anxiety disorders, both of which can be debilitating and have a prolonged course.
  
• More than 40% of women and experience significant depression in a given week.
  
• Throughout all age ranges and in all races, the prevalence of depression is higher in women than in men.
  
• Some forms of depression occur only in women. For example, the “postpartum blues” occur in 30% to 60% of mothers. Postpartum depression, a much more serious illness, develops in 10% to 20% of mothers and is characterized by symptoms of major depression, including suicidal and homicidal thoughts.
  
• The drop in estrogen levels during menopause can result in depression in some women.
  
• Concomitant medical conditions complicate the diagnosis of depression (and the estimation of depression rates) among older women. Conditions such a rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, cardiovascular disease and fibromyalgia, all of which are more prevalent in women, often mask the symptoms of depression.
  
• Almost 60% of the 19 million office visits to psychiatrists are made by women.

November/December 2006

Major Depression During Pregnancy Vivien K. Burt, MD, PhD Eating Disorders and Pregnancy Carole K. Edelstein, MD Meet the Expert A ConversationWith Anita S. Kablinger, MD Research Report Stress Reduction for Breast Cancer Patients With commentary by Pamela Netzel, MD, and Matthew Clark, PhD Hot Flashes Neuroticism may influence the risk of major depression. SSRIs may contribute to lower suicide rates in children and adolescents. >> Click here to download this issue

September 2006

Depression and Anxiety in Cancer Patients Pamela J. Netzel, MD; Shirlene M. Sampson, MD; Maria I. Lapid, MD; Katherine M. Moore, MD; Teresa A. Rummans, MD Excessive Sleepiness in Women Mary O’Malley, MD, PhD Research Report: Is Perimenopause Linked to New-Onset Depression? With commentary by Teri Pearlstein, MD Research Report: Interpersonal Psychotherapy Effective in Reducing Postpartum Depression With commentary by Vivien K. Burt, MD, PhD Meet the Expert A ConversationWith Vivien K. Burt, MD, PhD Hot Flashes Self injury in college students is more common than previously thought. >> Click here to download this issue

December 2005 Issue

Depression in Women: Diagnosis and Treatment Katherine M. Moore, MD; Maria I. Lapid, MD; Shirlene M. Sampson, MD; Pamela J. Netzel, MD; Teresa A. Rummans, MD Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women Anita S. Kablinger, MD; Jasjit K. Singh, MD; Leigh T. Liles, MS Meet the Expert A Conversation With Steven P. Roose, MD Research Report Anxiety and Depression in Caregivers of AD Patients With commentary by Gill Livingston, MD, FRCPsych Hot Flashes Disturbances in body image contribute to relapse among women in remission from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. >> Click here to download this issue