Menopausal transition and depression: who is at risk and how to treat it?

Abstract

The menopausal transition may impose a challenge to clinicians and health professionals who are invested in improving women's quality of life; after all, this period in life is commonly marked by significant hormone fluctuations accompanied by bothersome vasomotor symptoms (e.g., hot flushes and night sweats) and other somatic complaints. In addition, more recent epidemiologic data demonstrate that some women transitioning to menopause may be at higher risk for developing depression when compared with their risk during premenopausal years; this increased risk appears to be true even among those who had never experienced depression before. In this article, putative contributing factors for this window of vulnerability for depression during the menopausal transition are critically reviewed. Hormonal and nonhormonal factors that may contribute to the occurrence of physical and/or psychiatric complaints during the menopausal transition are discussed. Lastly, existing evidence-based treatment strategies are summarized.