Watch CBS News

Guide To Women's Mental Health

From motherhood to menopause, women face challenges throughout their lives that can have a significant impact on their mental health. "The Complete Guide To Mental Health For Women" is a new book on the subject.

Lauren Slater, psychologist and co-editor of the book offered an overview of the guide on The Early Show.

The new guide provides a comprehensive look at women's mental health throughout life, from late adolescence to old age, including pregnancy, motherhood, infertility, adoption, childlessness and menopause. Sexuality, relationships and traumatic experience are areas that are also covered, as well as specific disorders like anxiety and depression. Body image and eating disorders are also addressed.

Slater believes this is an important book because women's mental health issues are fundamentally different from men's issues, but most medical research to date deals mainly with men. This research is not always applicable when it comes to issues like pregnancy and menopause that are uniquely specific to women.

The book seeks to outline the unique problems and developmental milestones for women in a way that might not be available from other sources.

For each stage of life, the book contains pieces from experts in their fields about normal development, developmental milestones, and also any kind of problems that might come up at any given stage in the life cycle, addressing the full range of possibilities.

Some of the problems addressed range from depression, anxiety, postpartum depression, menopause-related issues, old age and Alzheimer's disease as well as developmental issues. When it comes to relationships and traumatic experience, the book delves into issues such as divorce, sexual and child abuse, racial and cultural differences, terrorism and the effects of debilitating physical diseases, all of which can exact a mental health toll on a woman if not addressed.

When it comes to motherhood, issues like infertility, the biological clock and postpartum depression are addressed, as well as choices like adoption and the choice to remain childless. When it comes to menopause and perimenopause, initial problems like feelings of vulnerability from aging can often be replaced by a reduction in mental health symptoms in many cases.

Although it's not clear if women suffer more than men from mental health issues, there are higher rates reported of anxiety and depression disorders, and most of the consumers of psychotropic drugs for mental issues are women.

A woman's hormone mix is more of a factor in emotional responses, and simply being a woman can put a woman at higher risk of abuse that can lead to post-traumatic stress. There are also cultural issues that can put a woman in danger associated with gender.

Each problem has strategies for addressing the problems outlined, with chapters devoted to treatment options like medication, cognitive therapy and community support. A section is devoted to underscoring the importance of exercise, play and spirituality in a woman's life.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.