Table 1.

Treatments for mood and anxiety disorders in women.

Reproductive Stage/Psychiatric Illness	Recommended Treatment			Notes
Depression	Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIS) are first line. E.g.			No evidence that treatment with progesterone derivatives is helpful Psychologytoday.com to find therapists practicing CBT in your area.
	Name	Starting Dose (mg)	Target Dose (mg)
	Sertraline	25	50–150
	Citalopram	10	20–40
	Escitalopram	5	10–20
	Fluoxetine	10	20–60
Anxiety	Same as Depression			As above
Premenstrual Dysphoric disorder	SSRIs (as above): given during symptom-onset, luteal, or continuous. Drospirenone 3mg/ethinylestradiol 0.2 mg daily (e.g. “Yaz”) dosed 24–2 or continuously Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs (leuprolide 37.5 mg monthly) GnRH analogs and stable hormone add-back (estradiol or progesterone) Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)			Iapmd.org for PMDD resources and treatment guidelines. Psychologytoday.com to find therapists practicing CBT and DBT in your area.
POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION	SSRIs (as above) May benefit from treatment with synthetic allopregnanolone (brexanolone), the first drug ever approved for PPD CBT and interpersonal therapy (IPT)			https://www.postpartum.net/
Perimenopausal Depression/anxiety	SSRIS (as above) for mood symptoms. For vasomotor Symptoms: Venlafaxine: 37.5–75 mg Paroxetine: 10 mg Citalopram: 10–20 mg Fluoxetine: 10–20 mg Gabapentin: 300–900 mg Clonidine: 0.1 mg transdermal patch			Some evidence of increased adverse mood symptoms in women taking combined menopausal hormone treatment compared with women using estrogen-only MHT. OCPs can be also be used to treat mood when women also have physical symptoms of menopause, but are not first line for mood alone.