APA Blogs
11 Results
Women’s History Month: The Rise of Reproductive Psychiatry
During Women’s History Month, we invite you to reflect on the history of women’s mental health and the rapid advancement of the field of reproductive psychiatry over the past several decades. While our understanding of women’s mental health has thankfully progressed from Hippocrates’ attribution of psychological distress to a “wandering uterus,” much of this development has been surprisingly recent.
Parental Leave Brings Mental Health Benefits, Especially for Mothers
Along with all the excitement and anticipation, becoming a new parent comes with a great deal of change and potential stress, such as the challenges of childrearing, financial pressure and career uncertainties. This elevated stress can contribute to mental health problems, including peripartum depression. New research published in the Lancet finds that access to employer-provided parental leave may help protect mothers’ mental health in the months after childbirth.
Caring for Pregnant Women: A Psychiatrist’s Guide
Every psychiatrist will see a pregnant woman or other patient who is pregnant someday. When that person presents to your office, will you be ready? Many of us received little if any training on the subject, so the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Women’s Mental Health would like to help. Read on for five things every psychiatrist needs to know before a pregnant patient walks in your door.
Women’s History Month: Spotlighting the Women Leaders of APA
March is Women’s History Month and we’re highlighting several women currently leading the organization: APA President Vivian Pender, M.D., President-Elect Rebecca W. Brendel, M.D., J.D., and Assembly Speaker Mary Jo Fitz-Gerald, M.D., M.B.A.
Women, Disasters and Resilience
Do women experience disasters, including planning, preparedness, response and recovery, differently than men? That is the question examined in a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report looks at the long-held notion in disaster behavioral health research that "women are more vulnerable to adverse mental health consequences of disaster than are men."