The Dr Louise Newson Podcast16 Touko 2023

204 - Hormonal changes and mental health: maternal mental health awareness

Advisory: this podcast contains themes of mental health and suicide.

Earlier this month Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week was marked across the UK. In this week’s episode Emma Hammond, an employment lawyer specialising in advising women who have experienced discrimination due to the menopause, generously shares her own story.

After a traumatic birth with her first child, Emma developed serious symptoms, including psychosis and not sleeping or eating, that ultimately led to medication and hospitalisation. While she wanted a second child, her periods stopped and she was told she was perimenopausal – but an unexpected development took place soon after she was admitted to a mental health hospital.

Here she and Dr Louise talk about the powerful role of hormones in women during pregnancy, birth and perimenopause, and how hormones can be overlooked by healthcare professionals caring for women struggling with their mental health.

This podcast follows an earlier episode with Emma where she talked about her career, and offered advice on menopause in the workplace.

Emma’s three tips:

See your GP promptly if you are struggling with your mental health and don’t think you can fix everything yourself
Be honest and open with your family and friends about what you are going through so that they can support you
Think about life changes and holistic approaches as well as hormonal treatments or medication.

Jaksot(368)

Bonus: When hormones are missed in mental health

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52 – Why psychiatrists must start thinking about hormones

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by consultant psychiatrist Dr Gareth Jarvis to explore the important, and often overlooked, connection between hormones and mental health. Louise and Garet...

24 Maalis 32min

51 – A man’s guide to menopause

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by journalist and author Joe Warner to discuss his new book exploring menopause from a partner’s perspective. It’s called “Burning Up, Frozen Out: What Ever...

17 Maalis 30min

50 - Testosterone and breaking the stigma

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by urologist, educator and hormone health advocate Dr Kelly Casperson to challenge some of the most persistent myths surrounding testosterone and women’s he...

10 Maalis 29min

49 – Endometriosis, dismissal and the fight to be heard

In this episode for Endometriosis Awareness Month, Dr Louise Newson is joined by author and women’s health advocate Evelyn Scott to share her personal experience of living with endometriosis, a condit...

3 Maalis 33min

48 – Why heart disease in women is still being missed

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by Dr Jayne Morgan, a cardiologist and leading advocate for improving recognition of cardiovascular disease in women. Despite being the number one cause of ...

24 Helmi 28min

47 - Rethinking mental health and antidepressant prescribing

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17 Helmi 35min

46 - Why understanding your hormones changes everything

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by Professor Mary Ryan, Consultant Endocrinologist, Adjunct Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin and author of It’s Probably Your Hormones. Togethe...

10 Helmi 31min