Women's Concise Guide to Emotional Well-Being

From the authors of The Harvard Guide to Women's Health This concise guide goes beyond facts and figures to get to the practical theories of women's emotional health. Here, in one volume, is what the experts know about maintaining emotional well-being in women, and about preventing, recognizing, and treating the psychological disturbances and disorders that women experience in their own way. Just as depression and anxiety are more common among women, many psychiatric disorders are exacerbated by the natural rhythms in a woman's life cycle, such as menarche, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. This book offers expert insight into why and how such patterns occur, as well as coping strategies for insomnia, substance abuse, domestic violence, and sexual abuse which can occur at any stage of life. Most importantly, the authors answer such pressing questions as: What works best for treating panic attacks and phobias? Should psychotherapy be used in tandem with drugs? How does one choose among group, individual, or family therapy? What are the benefits and drawbacks of drugs such as Prozac? Of beta blockers? Of tranquilizers? Are psychiatric problems passed on to one's children? What are the merits of acupuncture, hypnosis, meditation, sex therapy? From the complexities of schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder to the delicate practicalities of sexual response, this guide offers all that a woman might want to know about protecting her psychological health.

Karen J. Carlson, M.D., is a pioneer in the field of primary care for women. She founded Women’s Health Associates at Massachusetts General Hospital and is currently Director of this innovative center, which has been widely emulated in other medical centers throughout the country. Dr. Carlson is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research and academic publications focus on hysterectomy, ovarian cancer screening, and communication between doctors and patients. She lectures frequently to thousands of physicians in continuing education courses at Harvard and other major medical schools.

Stephanie A. Eisenstat, M.D., is an internist with Women’s Health Associates at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Scholar at The Academy, Harvard Medical School. She directs a course for physicians in training, Trauma and Injury Control, and is coeditor, with Dr. Karen Carlson, of Primary Care of Women, one of the first medical textbooks devoted to the emerging specialty of women’s primary care.

Terra Ziporyn, Ph.D., is a historian of science and medicine, a medical journalist, and a former associate editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The author of numerous books, including Nameless Diseases, she has written widely about topics in women’s health, including heart disease, behavioral health, autoimmune disorders, and alternative medicine.