We've talked a lot about perinatal mental health today. From my point of view, we should be talking about women's mental health across the lifespan and all of those different, unique issues, because they're all related to each other. For women to even know that, biologically, if they are more likely to have mood problems around the time of their period, they're probably more likely to have mood problems when they deliver a baby and around perimenopause.... It's all linked together. What are the things that are different? Women should know that they might metabolize medications differently.
Given how many people struggle with mental health issues, a public awareness campaign doesn't need to talk about mental illness or mental disorders necessarily, but it can talk about mental health issues across the reproductive lifespan, so people can understand what is par for the course and what should suggest that they might need a little more help. If they need a little more help, what are the things they can expect from their treatment?
That's actually where I would start. Of course, 80% of what I do clinically is perinatal. The others here can also talk about perinatal. You could think about very specific things, but that's actually where I would start. I think that if we had more awareness about women's mental health more broadly, when people get to the perinatal period, they would be more willing and more able to realize that they might be able to.... Some of the shame and stigma.... It might help with that.
That's my view. Others may have different ones.