Weekly Roundup for SEPTEMBER 18, 2020: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
Every week we review the most recent publications in women’s mental health, covering topics related to premenstrual symptoms, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, use of medications in pregnant and breastfeeding women, perinatal substance use, and menopausal mental health. In a meta-analysis including nearly 200,000 mother-infant dyads, Rogers and colleagues look at the impact of perinatal depression on the child development, noting a negative impact of perinatal depression on social-emotional, cognitive, language, [...]
Perimenopausal Depression in Women with More Variable Levels of Estradiol and Lower Progesterone Levels
Women are at increased risk for depressive symptoms during the menopause transition. It has long been suspected that falling estrogen levels play a role in triggering the onset of depression; however, if all women experience declining levels of estrogen and progesterone during this transition, why is it that only some women suffer from depression in this setting? A recent study has looked at how levels of estrogen and progesterone affect risk [...]
More Data on the Neuroactive Steroid Zuranolone for Postpartum Depression
While we have heard a lot about brexanolone, marketed by Sage Therapeutics as Zulresso, for the treatment of postpartum depression, an oral version of this novel antidepressant – SAGE 217 or zuranolone – has been finishing up its Phase 3 trials. Like brexanolone, SAGE-217 is a neuroactive steroid, an analogue of allopregnanolone which is a positive allosteric modulator of the GABA-A receptor. What distinguishes SAGE-217 from brexanolone is that it has [...]
Weekly Roundup for SEPTEMBER 11, 2020: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
Every week we review the most recent publications in women’s mental health, covering topics related to premenstrual symptoms, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, use of medications in pregnant and breastfeeding women, perinatal substance use, and menopausal mental health. In studies looking at the neurodevelopment of children exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy, it is often different to distinguish between the direct effects of antidepressant exposure and the indirect effects of residual psychiatric [...]
Mitigating psychiatric disorder relapse in pregnancy during pandemic
Dr. Lee S. Cohen, Director of the Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women's Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently shared his insights on mitigating psychiatric relapse during pregnancy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with Ob.Gyn News on August 28th, 2020 In a previous column, I addressed some of the issues that quickly arose in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for reproductive psychiatry. These issues ranged from the importance of sustaining [...]
Can Bright Light Therapy Be Used for the Treatment of Depression During Pregnancy?
Every Wednesday, we have the pleasure of holding virtual rounds with other clinicians to discuss important topics in reproductive psychiatry. So many great questions! Last week, one of our participants asked about using light therapy for the treatment of depression during pregnancy. This is a topic we haven’t covered for nearly a decade, so it seemed like a good time to revisit the topic.  Despite data to support the reproductive safety [...]