Perimenopausal women have an increased risk of developing new onset and recurrent mental health conditions such as anxiety, low mood and depressive symptoms. General Practitioners frequently prescribe antidepressants as the first-line treatment for these symptoms, despite clear lack of evidence for their efficacy and their unfavourable side effect profile. This article, written by a General Practitioner, gives a practical overview of the mental health symptoms which women may report to their General Practitioners during the menopausal transition and discusses underlying causes, assessment, risk factors and treatment options based on current evidence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.