Praise for Women's Health Psychology "Women's Health Psychology provides an important overview and analysis of key issues affecting women's health and well-being ... almost every chapter in this volume touches on the importance of quality of life, not just longevity.... It will serve as a valuable reference for health and mental health providers, researchers, and those in training for professional or research careers." —from the Foreword by Nancy E. Adler, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, Director of the Center for Health and Community Women's Health Psychology is the first comprehensive collection ever published to consider the developmental, reproductive, and sociocultural contexts of health decision-making and behavior for women. It provides current, expert advice to help policy makers, researchers, and clinicians make the best decisions concerning topics including: The Context of Women's Health: history of women's healthcare, employment and women's health, and the effects of intimate partner violence Health Challenges: smoking, alcohol, eating disorders, and sleep Reproductive Health: premenstrual dysphoric disorder, the stress of infertility, psychiatric symptoms and pregnancy, and menopause Disability and Chronic Conditions: women's responses to disability, experiencing cancer, the psychology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and rheumatic, heart, and Alzheimer's diseases

Includes established theories and cutting-edge developments. Presents the work of an international group of experts. Presents the nature, origin, implications, an future course of major unresolved issues in the area.

Women's Health Psychology is the first comprehensive collection ever published to consider the developmental, reproductive, and sociocultural contexts of health decision-making and behavior for women. It provides current, expert advice to help policy makers, researchers, and clinicians make the best decisions concerning topics including: The Context of Women's Health: history of women's healthcare, employment and women's health, and the effects of intimate partner violence Health Challenges: smoking, alcohol, eating disorders, and sleep Reproductive Health: premenstrual dysphoric disorder, the stress of infertility, psychiatric symptoms and pregnancy, and menopause Disability and Chronic Conditions: women's responses to disability, experiencing cancer, the psychology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and rheumatic, heart, and Alzheimer's diseases

In the decade since the first edition of this work was published, an incredible array of reproductive technologies and associated issues has emerged. Obstetricians and gynecologists are hard-pressed to deal with the startling breadth and depth of these issues, which require mastery over a daunting combination of ever-increasing scientific knowledge, technical skills, long hours, legal liability, and exposure to clinical situations of overwhelming emotional intensity. Psychiatrists have a vital role to play in helping obstetricians and gynecologists cope with a host of problems whose resolutions require not just technical skill, but also knowledge of biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, ethics, and law. For example, to design and implement strategies to reduce the transmission of HIV, psychiatrists could work with public health workers to incorporate the psychology, sociology, and anthropology of female reproductive behavior. Psychiatrists could likewise improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast and pelvic malignancies by elucidating the factors that deter women from self-examination and regular medical screening and enhance treatment compliance. Divided into three sections, this clinical and theoretical sourcebook addresses every major area of contemporary concern. Pregnancy covers topics from the psychology of normal gestation to physical and psychiatric complications during and after pregnancy, including new prenatal diagnostic techniques and the dynamic issues that emerge when abnormalities are detected, and the use of psychotropic drugs and electroconvulsive therapy in pregnant and lactating patients. Gynecology discusses not only common gynecologic problems but also more controversial issues such as induced abortion and the new reproductive technologies, including the role of the menstrual cycle in exacerbating and precipitating psychologic symptoms, the psychiatric aspects of menopause, the assessment and management of chronic pelvic pain, the psychosocial concomitants of gynecologic malignancies and the emotional demands on the oncology team, and the special implications of HIV/AIDS. General Issues offers a broad, balanced view of topics rarely found in the literature, such as men's reactions to women's reproductive events, substance abuse and eating disorders, sexual and physical abuse (often part of the histories of patients with personality disorders and posttraumatic stress disorders), ethical and legal issues, and health care for lesbian patients. Of special significance is Dr. Stotland's chapter on how consultation-liaison services are provided to obstetrics and gynecology services. This practical and scholarly volume is exceptionally useful as a teaching reference for medical and other health care students and residents in psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology. It also provides a valuable resource for the clinician working to improve the psychological well-being of women patients.

"More women (47.6%) receive mental health services compared with men (34.8%). Women are twice as likely as men to develop major depressive disorder. Furthermore, 10%-15% of women experience depression during the perinatal period, which makes depression one of the most common complications of childbirth (Gaynes et al. 2005). These statistics illustrate that psychiatric disorders in women are common during the reproductive years and that the hormonal fluctuations associated with the reproductive life cycle contribute to the etiology of mental illness in women. Medical practitioners in all fields will encounter female patients with mental illness across the lifespan, particularly major depressive and anxiety disorders. Consequently, there is a great imperative for high-quality educational materials that increase the competency of providers. This outstanding work is divided into two parts. Part I provides a comprehensive overview of the reproductive life cycle and covers mental health concerns across the lifespan, including the relationship between gynecological and sexual health and mental health as well as infertility, the premenstrual period, and perimenopause. Part II is devoted to the perinatal period and offers a conceptual framework for a clinical approach to the pregnant and postpartum patient, followed by evidence-based reviews of the management of psychiatric disorders (by diagnostic category), as well as covering stress in pregnancy, infant mental health, and legal/forensic issues. Critical summaries of the epidemiology, risk factors, screening methods, and clinical features are presented. This book must be required reading for all faculty and trainees who will care for women"--

Women’s Health Advocacy brings together academic studies and personal narratives to demonstrate how women use a variety of arguments, forms of writing, and communication strategies to effect change in a health system that is not only often difficult to participate in, but which can be actively harmful. It explicates the concept of rhetorical ingenuity—the creation of rhetorical means for specific and technical, yet extremely personal, situations. At a time when women’s health concerns are at the center of national debate, this rhetorical ingenuity provides means for women to uncover latent sources of oppression in women’s health and medicine and to influence matters of research, funding, policy, and everyday access to healthcare in the face of exclusion and disenfranchisement. This accessible collection will be inspiring reading for academics and students in health communication, medical humanities, and women’s studies, as well as for activists, patients, and professionals.

.,."The definitive work on the psychology of women....An extraordinary review of contemporary knowledge." Choice