Women's History Month

March is Women’s History Month. As we all know, women have made innumerable contributions to our history, whether it was screen star Hedy Lamarr, who developed frequency hopping—the technology behind WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS, to the “Hidden Figures”—a group of African-American female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race. These women, along with many others in fields ranging from medicine and the arts to engineering and government, continue to inspire us today.

When it comes to mental health, women face unique challenges. Behavioral health challenges such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders are more common in women than men, according to nih.gov.

Some disorders are unique to women, typically due to hormone changes. Some women experience depression:

• During or after pregnancy (perinatal depression)
• Around the time of their period (premenstrual dysphoric disorder)
• During the menopause transition (perimenopausal depression)

When it comes to other mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, research has not found sex differences in the rates at which they are diagnosed.

To learn more about women’s mental health, visit Women and Mental Health - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).