Professor Jayashri Kulkarni
Alfred Health and Monash University
In addition to numerous somatic symptoms, one in three women will experience significant psychological changes during the transition into menopause. Previous studies have demonstrated that women are not only at an increased risk of depression and anxiety during perimenopause and the menopausal transition, but also that depressive symptoms experienced in perimenopause are of higher severity compared to pre-menopause and post-menopause, and often do not respond well to standard antidepressant therapy.
In this presentation, Professor Kulkarni will outline the epidemiology of menopause-related depression, the clinical presentation and the neuroscientific aetiological theories plus management of menopausal depression, using a biopsychosocial framework.
Anxiety related to menopause will be discussed in relation to past experience of complex trauma and the resurgence of traumatic memories and symptoms.
Finally, a discussion about the biological management of menopause related depression will be presented, including discussion of estradiol treatment, the Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators, additional progestin, and testosterone. Discussion about the impacts of SSRIs, SNRIs and glutamate modulators will also be conducted