Social Work Today E-Zine

Although mood disorders and depression may occur at any age during a woman’s life, women seem to more vulnerable during times of hormonal fluctuations, such as the menstrual period, pregnancy, and perimenopause, according to a report released by the Society for Women’s Health Research. For some women, a normal hormonal transition can trigger mild to severe mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder. “Science has revealed clues as to why these changes may occur in some women,” says Peter Schmidt, MD, an investigator in the National Institute of Mental Health’s Reproductive Endocrine Studies Unit, “but further research is needed to definitively show what causes depression and mood disorders in women during hormonal transitions.”

The Society for Women’s Health Research and the National Institute for Mental Health convened a thought leaders’ roundtable in June to discuss current efforts to understand the effects of hormonal transitions. Roundtable participants observed that postpartum depression affects roughly 10% to 15% of women up to one year after childbirth, but the exact cause is not known. Some scientists believe that chemical changes in the brain may be caused by the shifts in hormone levels during pregnancy and the postpartum period, leaving women vulnerable to depression. Other life cycle changes in a woman’s life such as perimenopause where hormones are shifting may produce similar emotional disturbances.

Scientific research conducted by Schmidt, David Rubinow, MD, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and their colleagues illustrated the effect of hormones on human mood by shutting down the ovarian cycle in an attempt to eliminate the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. After two to three months of ovarian suppression, the study participants’ problematic mood symptoms were greatly reduced. The researchers concluded that when reproductive hormones are removed, premenstrual symptoms or PMS disappears.

— Source: Jennifer Wider, MD, Society for Women's Health Research