Women with depression at menopause can be treated with HRT or anti-depressants but the treatment offered often depends on which practitioner they see
The best treatment for depression at menopause is a complex problem says Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, psychiatrist at the Monash Alfred psychiatry research centre.
Different treatment approaches will depend on how and where the woman presents for treatment.
“If they present to a mental health practitioner, they may not be recommended treatment with HRT hormones but instead, anti-depressants or psychotropic medications,” Professor Kulkarni says.
For some women, a combination of the two types of treatments will be the best answer.
“Personally, I would like to suggest that it is much easier to stop or change hormone treatments if you don’t get it right on the first go,” Professor Kulkarni says. “It is a little easier to manipulate HRT than to try and change anti-depressants.”
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