Irritable? Little or no motivation? Unable to experience joy? Increased anxiety? Not feeling like yourself? Women are far likelier to experience depression and anxiety during the years leading up to and immediately after menopause. But few people, even doctors, understand this.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the speaker for our May Menopause Talk is Dr. Claudio Soares, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Queen’s University in Canada and one of the foremost experts on mood and menopause. Dr. Susan Goldstein, a family physician, professor at the University of Toronto, and Board member of the Canadian Menopause Society, also will be joining us and interviewing Dr. Soares.

Drs. Soares and Goldstein will discuss why women are at greater risk for mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety, during the menopause transition. And they will walk us through the questions to ask to identify the most valid treatment option(s): are you pre- or post-menopausal? How severe are your mood symptoms? What about other menopause symptoms, like hot flashes and sleep issues? Have you had prior mood problems? What treatment(s) helped you? Whether your mood is not what it used to be, or you are suffering far more than that, you will not want to miss this discussion.

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About the Host:

Susan Goldstein, MD, is a community-based Family Physician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. With a special interest in women’s health, Dr. Goldstein is a Board Member of the Canadian Menopause Society and a Menopause Practitioner certified by the North American Menopause Society. Her menopause assessment tool, the Menopausequick6 (MQ6), and the accompanying treatment algorithm which were published in Canadian Family Physician in April 2017, have now been integrated into an online resource MQ6.ca, a new website that includes resources for both clinicians and patients, including an online menopause treatment decision tool.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Claudio N Soares, MD, Ph.D., FRCPC, MBA, is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Queen’s University in Canada. He is also the Executive Lead for the Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND) and Chair of the Psychedelic Science Advisory Committee at Queen’s. University. He serves as Treasurer and member of the Board of Trustees for the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Dr. Soares’ research has focused on novel treatments for midlife women who experience depression, anxiety, vasomotor symptoms, and/or sleep problems. He is also interested in applying digital health technologies for treatment monitoring and relapse prevention in depression.

Dr. Soares is a sought-after educator with more than 200 presentations at national and international meetings. He received numerous grants and awards, including 3 NARSAD Awards from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the 2019 NAMS/Thomas Clarkson Award for Outstanding Research. His body of work has more than 10,000 citations to date.

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