title: Some misconceptions concerning the menopause.
abstract: Traditional assumptions about menopausal and postmenopausal women suggest that they are vulnerable to marked depression and deterioration in sexual interest and activity. A review of representative gynecologic and psychiatric publications dating back to the mid-nineteenth century tend to confirm these widely held beliefs. More contemporary epidemiologic and clinical studies fail to demonstrate a specific entity of menopausal depression and, in fact, show a decline in the prevalence of depression among women in this age group. Likewise, studies on sexual activity and interest among middle-aged women fail to demonstrate a consistent and predictable decline, but show rather wide variability. The presence of a suitable male partner appears to play a more important role than age per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Youngs
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002979:Climacteric; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012725:Sexual Behavior