This book discusses psychiatric disorders among women in a manner that is relevant to clinical practice and keep cultural and social realities in perspective. The book is important in the face of rapidly changing conditions globally (including better education and more opportunities for work for women); challenges such as migration, war and violence and emerging areas such as newer reproductive technologies, Women's mental health cannot be divorced from social and cultural realities and while the book emphasises these areas, it also gives due importance to the current advances in neurobiology and psychopharmacology of psychiatric disorders among women.

This book examines women's behavioral health (defined as alcohol, drug use, and mental health) problems from a population or public health perspective. It provides the current state of knowledge for women's behavioral health and examines the need for behavioral health services and implications for policy. It also reviews major issues in the organization, financing, and provision of women's behavioral health services. This textbook highlights mental and substance use disorders of particular concern to women, emphasizes services research issues in women's behavioral health, incorporates the social determinants of health, and provides a discussion of these critical issues from an interprofessional and interdisciplinary public health perspective.

There is an increasing focus on medical studies related to differences between men and women, and women's mental health stands out as one of the most important fields where sex-based differences are being investigated. Overall, studies show an existence of important sex-specific differences in several aspects of psychiatric disorders such as etiology, epidemiology, clinical presentation and therapeutics. In this book, recognized experts present the current state of knowledge on this topic, providing a reliable, accurate and comprehensive clinical guide to women's mental health.

This text provides background on the history of perinatal psychiatry, and discusses future directions in the field. It clearly defines perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), which are the most common complication of pregnancy. When left untreated, PMADs are morbid and devastating for both the patient and their entire family. It reviews gold standard recommendations for the treatment of PMADs, including evidence-based psychotherapies, as well as risk-benefit analysis of psychotropic medication use in pregnancy and lactation. Additionally, common presentations of depression, anxiety, and trauma in pregnancy and postpartum women, as well as mania, psychosis, suicidal and homicidal thoughts are reviewed.