Supporting women's mental health

Reproductive mood disorders take their toll – affecting one in three Canadian women at a cost to the national health-care system of approximately $45 million annually.

Jennifer Gordon, the University of Regina’s Canada Research Chair in Biopsychosocial Determinants of Women’s Mental Health, is working to predict, prevent, and treat these disorders, with a particular focus on depression in the menopause transition.

“The world over, women are two times more likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime compared to men,” says Gordon. “Depressive disorders triggered by reproductive events, such as the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, the postpartum period, and the menopause transition — collectively known as reproductive mood disorders — likely account for an important proportion of this increased risk.”