Welcome to the Women’s Mental Health Center at Mount Sinai. Our center is devoted to studying the etiology and developing treatment for women with severe mental illness. In our clinical program, we focus on diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems from preconception through delivery and after. We consult on premenstrual and perimenopausal psychiatric disorders. In addition, we have special expertise in treating women with bipolar disorder.
I became interested in starting research programs for women with severe mental illness when working as clinician. My patients came to me with perfectly reasonable questions, such as: Should I continue taking my medication during pregnancy?; Why do I feel so mentally ill after childbirth, when I never felt this way before?; and Why is menopause such a high-risk time for women with mental illness? There simply were not enough studies on these topics, and few researchers working to answer these questions.
Here, at the Women’s Mental Health Center, we strive to address some of the most glaring omissions in our understanding of women’s mental health. We work collaboratively with researchers across the country and around the world. Within our research program, we focus on two areas:
Severe mental illness in women, especially during the perinatal period: In the period after delivery, women are highly vulnerable to the first onset of severe mental illness. Moreover, women with bipolar disorder are at very high risk of relapse after delivery, and we do studies on the etiology and how to prevent this.
Transgenerational psychiatry: We are investigating the effect that mental illness during pregnancy and childrearing has on the next generation. For example, we look at the risks of taking, or not taking, psychotropic drugs during pregnancy for both mother and child. We also look at the effect of infections during pregnancy on the child later in life.
While research takes a long time, we have already started to make a difference. We are working on a better classification for postpartum psychosis and prevention and treatment guidelines.
Our job is far from done. We invite you to join our efforts.
Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD
Director, Women’s Mental Health Center at Mount Sinai; and Professor of Psychiatry, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai