Mental health issues can have a profound effect on a woman’s day-to-day life, her capacity for enjoyment and her ability to deal with the challenges she may face.
The Women’s Mental Health Service provides specialist care to more than 800 patients at the Women's every year. Our mental health team includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, an infant mental health clinician and a psychiatric consultation-liaison nurse.
We provide a range of individual and group-based treatments for our patients in four key areas:
- Mental health in pre-conception
- Mental health in pregnancy
- Mental health in parenthood
- Mental health and cancer.
Mental health issues in pregnancy and after birth can affect a woman’s capacity to cope with the demands of motherhood and to bond effectively with her baby.
Anxiety and depression following a cancer diagnosis can challenge a woman’s capacity to cope with her physical health and her view of herself and in turn, impact on her relationships and her partner.
Menopause and other mid-life changes can also have a significant impact on a woman and seriously compromise her sense of health and wellbeing.
The mental health service at the Women’s is part of the treatment & care we provide to women who are already patients in our maternity, cancer or menopause clinics.
Most of the mental health services at the Women’s can only be accessed by women who are already patients at the Women’s – you cannot get a direct referral to these services.
However, an exception is the Maternity Psychotropic Medicine Assessment Service. Women do not need to be a patient of the Women's to access this service. We do ask that patients of this service live near the Women's (so you can attend a face-to-face consultation at the Women's, wherever possible).
Facts
- Established in 2007, our Centre was the first gender-based mental health centre in Australia.
- The integration of the Women’s Mental Health Service enables us to support our patients more thoroughly and work to enhance their quality of life. It also enables us to undertake significant research to better understand and treat the various mental health issues that women can experience throughout their life.
- Anxiety and depression occur more commonly in women during pregnancy and after birth.