Join us for an informative and thoughtful webinar on suicide in premenstrual disorders with Jaclyn Ross, PhD. This webinar is intended for clinicians, researchers, and students with a specific interest in PMDD/PME. Dr. Ross will review the literature on suicidality in premenstrual disorders followed by a discussion of best practices for assessing suicidality across the cycle and delivering timely interventions for suicidal patients with premenstrual disorders in the context of ongoing psychotherapy.

Join us for an expert panel discussion on suicidality and the menstrual cycle with IAPMD Clinical Advisors Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, PhD, Jennifer Gordon, PhD, Jackie Ross, PhD and Melissa Wagner-Schuman, MD, PhD.

Suicidality has been shown to fluctuate with the menstrual cycle in correspondence with cyclical hormone changes. In fact, research shows that suicide attempts are most likely to occur in the days preceding and just after the onset of menses - the perimenstrual phase.

These studies illuminate an important pattern of risk for women and individuals with menstrual cycles and also point to new avenues for research and potential strategies for professional advocacy, and improved clinical care to prevent suicide within this population.

This discussion will cover:

-Research on suicidality and the menstrual cycle

-Understanding of suicidality in individuals with PMDD/PME

-Ongoing efforts to add suicidality to the DSM description of PMDD

-Potential directions for suicide prevention through treatment development, provider education, advocacy, & more

Recorded August 28, 2024

What’s the relationship between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression? In the first IAPMD Journal Club, we discuss the latest research among fellow professionals and patients.

Recorded Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age. Recent literature supports increased associations between PCOS and co-occurring psychiatric conditions, particularly depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders. This webinar discusses Dr. Standeven's recent research findings on neuroactive steroids and mood symptoms followed longitudinally in patients with PCOS.

Speaker:

Dr. Lindsay Standeven, MD Linsday Standeven is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and the Clinical and Education Director of Johns Hopkins Reproductive Mental Health Center. After completing her residency in Psychiatry, Dr. Standeven completed a two-year fellowship in reproductive psychiatry. She is the director of resident training in women's mental health and serves on the educational board of the National Curriculum on Reproductive Psychiatry (NCRP). Her research focuses on the role of neurosteroid changes in pregnancy and PMADs. She has also received NIH funding to study the role of neurosteroids and the psychiatric symptoms of women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Date: Friday, June 21, 2024

Join Jennifer Gordon, PhD, for an informative discussion on comorbid infertility and fertility treatments for patients with PMDD/PME, including special fertility treatment considerations for hormone-sensitive individuals.

Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Gordon, PhD

Dr. Gordon is the current IAPMD Clinical Advisory Board chair. She is also the Director of the Women’s Mental Health Research Unit at the University of Regina, Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on the impact of reproductive hormones on mood in women across the lifespan, with a particular focus on the late reproductive years and transition to menopause. As a Clinical Psychologist, she also has a particular interest in adapting established psychotherapy approaches for the treatment of reproductive mood disorders.

Join IAPMD, Dr. Fiona Baker, and Dr. Marie Gombert as they discuss sleep and the menstrual cycle.

After watching this webinar, you will better understand Sleep:

* Function and mechanisms, strategies to study sleep, and physiological changes associated with sleep.

* Effects of the menstrual cycle on sleep and vice versa.

* Sleep and menstrual-associated disorders.

* Perspectives of the field of sleep and the menstrual cycle.

* How sleep spindles increase during the luteal phase and how sleep deprivation and circadian disruption affect the menstrual cycle physiology.

* How good sleep has a buffering effect on daily mood changes across the menstrual cycle.

This work aims to raise awareness of the importance of sleep in individuals with menstrual cycles as an element to consider in studies and clinical practice.

Join IAPMD and Dr. Benicio Frey as he discusses hormonal sensitivity across reproductive life stages.

Multiple lines of evidence show that a subset of people are more vulnerable to experiencing intense mood, anxiety, and other psychological symptoms during times of (physiological) hormonal fluctuations, such as menarche, premenstrual period, ovulation, and perimenopause.

In addition, converging evidence from multiple studies shows that these episodes can lead to severe emotional distress, disability, and a higher risk of self-harm. Despite that, the concept of hormonal sensitivity is not well disseminated in the educational curricula, which contributes to poor health care outcomes.

After watching this webinar, participants will be able to:

Review and discuss the biological studies on hormonal sensitivity and reproductive mental health.

Review and discuss the clinical studies on hormonal sensitivity and reproductive mental health.

Review and discuss the literature on premenstrual worsening as a comorbid condition versus an exacerbation of other disorders.

Review the link between the menstrual cycle and suicide risk and behavior.

Discuss the educational and health service gaps in this area.

Jenni Kay Long, LCSW, therapist, and clinical suicidologist, hosts an in-depth discussion of suicidality as it relates to the menstrual cycle, including practical guidelines for supporting high-risk patients. This will be followed by a Q&A with Jenni Kay about her experience in living and working in the PMDD space and how she came to run a focused clinic in this area.

Educational topics include:

* Understanding suicidal ideation and exacerbation of suicide risk in the luteal phase

* Engaging in compassionate suicide risk assessment

* Treatment planning and crisis intervention

* Integrative care and collaboration with other treatment professionals

Speaker: Jenni Kay Long integrates EMDR, auricular acupuncture, and yoga therapy to provide multifaceted care that addresses the needs of the whole person - mind, body, and relationships.

This webinar will specifically benefit all healthcare providers involved in the diagnosis and management of PMS/PMDD - e.g., doctors, nurses, counselors, dieticians, etc.

It is vital that PMS/PMDD is diagnosed and managed in a timely manner in order to avoid unnecessary suffering. In this webinar, Dr. Panay discusses how:

* Symptom diaries and/or online apps should be used to document symptoms prospectively.

* Evidence-based treatment should be recommended according to the RCOG / NAPS guideline algorithm.

* Education and training of healthcare providers and the public are vital to ensure that this condition is: 1) recognized early and 2) managed using individualized, evidence-based interventions.

Speaker: Nick Panay, BSc FRCOG MFSRH

Dr. Panay is a Consultant Gynaecologist with a Special Interest in Reproductive Medicine, Menopause, PMS, contraception, and gynecological endocrinology.

This is an hour-long webinar providing an overview for any healthcare professionals covering:

What is PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder)?

What is PME (Premenstrual Exacerbation)?

Screening methods and diagnostic tools

Common mistakes to avoid

Evidence-based treatment options

Where to find additional resources and information

Information for patients - signposting to peer support and patient-centered information

Speaker: Jaclyn Ross, Ph.D. - USA

This presentation will review different methods of contraception and the treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) including various combined hormonal contraceptives (CHC), copper intrauterine devices (IUD), and Progestin-only methods.

Speakers: Dr. Andrea Rapkin, M.D.

Despite the documented success of GnRH agonists for the treatment of treatment-resistant premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), many patients struggle to find providers who have sufficient knowledge of PMDD and its evidence-based treatments and/or who are comfortable treating PMDD after first-line treatment options have failed.

0.00 - 28.00 Welcome and PMDD overview

28.00 - 1:02 GnrHa for PMDD

1:03 - Q&A

This session will highlight the barriers to initiating GnRH agonists for treatment-resistant premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and offer practical solutions to address these barriers for providers who encounter patients with treatment-resistant PMDD but may not have the necessary expertise or comfort with providing evidence-based treatments.

This session will also include: example patient and provider handouts, screening tools, and treatment algorithms to help provide guidance for implementing GnRH agonists into practice amongst a broader scope of clinicians, including general psychiatrists.

Speaker: Melissa Wagner, M.D., Ph.D.

For further information: iapmd.org/chemical-menopause and iapmd.org/treatment-guidelines

In this presentation, Dr. Lauren Osborne will discuss current efforts to train clinicians – both mental health and obstetric providers – in reproductive psychiatry. She will focus on the National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry and its spinoff products, including NCRP 5-Hour Essentials, NCRPxOB, and NCRP Advanced.

Speaker: Lauren M. Osborne, M.D.

This presentation gives an overview of the menstrual cycle in the first year post-menarche, discuss challenges of studying the peripubertal menstrual cycle, and apply and compare the accuracy of previously proposed methods for determining ovulation status based on LH peak and progesterone rise.

Speakers: Elizabeth Andersen, Ph.D. and Hannah Klusmann, M.Sc.

Clinical Practice

This session will describe a model for assessing and treating premenstrual disorders, specifically PMDD. The talk will detail how to structure and implement the initial assessment/psychoeducation stage of treatment as well as ongoing psychotherapy sessions.

Speaker: Dr. Ross is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she is investigating the role of the menstrual cycle and ovarian hormone fluctuations in interpersonal distress, emotion dysregulation, and suicidality. In addition, Dr. Ross treats patients in private practice at Spring Source Psychological Center.

Cycle Science

This talk presents pilot data on menstrual cycle effects on borderline personality disorder symptoms, demonstrating several potential patterns of symptom exacerbation. The next steps in this program of research in an ongoing large NIMH-funded study will be discussed.

Speaker: Jessica R. Peters, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University

CLINICAL PRACTICE

In this webinar, Dr. Jess Peters discusses the role of anger and irritability in PMDD and PME and presents findings on hormone sensitivity and irritability and anger. They review potential mechanisms contributing to these symptoms and behavioral skills that may assist clients in reducing the impact of irritability and anger.

Speaker: Jessica R. Peters, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University

CLINICAL PRACTICE

The aim of the session is to provide basic concepts of differential diagnosis and management of women and AFAB individuals presenting with symptoms of bipolar disorder and PMDD. The session is intended for a generalist audience of health care professionals without a psychiatry background and will be organized into three parts. After providing a brief introduction to bipolar disorder, the principles of differential diagnosis between bipolar disorder and PMDD will be presented. The importance of a correct diagnosis and its impact on treatment decisions will be emphasized. In the third and final part, premenstrual exacerbations of bipolar disorder and comorbidity between bipolar disorder and PMDD will be discussed. As robust research evidence on the topics discussed is lacking, a critical review of the scientific literature available will be integrated with experiences from clinical practice.

Speaker: Dr. Arianna Di Florio - Arianna Di Florio, MD, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry, Cardiff University , Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board , Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

CLINICAL PRACTICE

PMDD symptoms that are refractory to the first lines of intervention including lifestyle modifications, psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, antidepressants, and hormonal suppression can be almost devastating to people suffering from PMDD and extremely frustrating to those caring for them. Current recommendations for the last line therapeutic option for refractory PMDD is surgical menopause. We will explore how to arrive at this decision, what steps should occur and what should be considered before pursuing this treatment option as well as post-operative management.

SPEAKER - Dr. Andrea Chisholm - (USA) Obstetrician-Gynecologist. Board Certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

CYCLE SCIENCE

Today's cycle science webinar is led by Dr. Jennifer Gordon, a clinical psychologist & associate professor of psychology at the University of Regina in Canada. Today, Dr. Gordon will discuss how reproductive aging may impact the trajectory of menstrual-related mood disorders and how treatment might require adjustment as patients approach midlife.

CLINICAL PRACTICE

Speaker: Dr. Hannah Short is a General Practitioner (UK) and accredited Specialist in Menopause & Premenstrual Disorders

This session will be useful for any Clinical Professional who sees/treats patients living with PMDD - many patients seek advice on what holistic methods they can utilize to look after themselves and reduce symptom severity. Participants at this hour-long webinar will learn about the evidence regarding diet and lifestyle intervention on premenstrual disorders/hormone sensitivity. This will enable them to make more informed to advise patients on dietary and lifestyle choices going forwards and to offer practical ways of implementing this.

Emilė Radytė, CEO of Samphire Neuroscience, and IAPMD discuss the potential for neurotechnology in menstrual and mental health.

Speaker: Emilė Radytė is the Co-founder and CEO of Samphire Neuroscience, a medical device technology company building wearable solutions for neglected women’s health needs. She is a neuroscientist by training (Harvard College ’20, Oxford ’21, ’24) and has experience working in academia, public health and emergency medicine.

In this session, Dr. Alicia Allen will be presenting on Exogenous Hormones & Cigarette Smoking Cessation: State of Knowledge & Future Opportunities.

Topics covered will include:

1 - Understanding the typical difference in hormonal patterns by naturally cycling versus use of hormonal contraceptives.

2 - The prevalence of use of hormonal contraceptives among women of reproductive age who smoke cigarettes.

3 - Learning what is currently known about the role of hormonal contraceptives in smoking-related behaviors.

4 - Becoming familiar with a working hypothesis of the role of hormonal contraceptives in smoking-related behaviors.

5 - Identifying future directions in this line of research.

Speaker: Alicia Allen, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Shau-Ming Wei’s research focuses on defining the neuroregulatory effects of ovarian steroids in women and characterizing the impact of contextual variables (e.g., genes, age, early life stress) that modulate the effects of these steroids on brain function. She has completed studies informed by basic science findings that document the regulatory effect of estradiol on genes relevant to brain function. Multimodal neuroimaging platforms (PET, sMRI, and fMRI) are used to explore brain regions targeted by sex steroids during experimental hormone manipulation studies in healthy women and women with reproductive mood disorders, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postpartum psychosis.

Speaker: Shau-Ming Wei, Ph.D.

In this session, Dr. Nicole Petersen presents ovarian hormone effects on human brain architecture. Dr. Petersen reviews how hormones affect brain structure and function, and the important limitations of brain imaging research, and the potential for PMDD treatment.

Speakers: Dr. Nicole Peterson, Ph.D

Cycle Science

Females and AFAB individuals who drink alcohol experience high rates of negative physical and mental health consequences, and high-risk drinking in females is rising in the United States. Existing findings are inconsistent but suggest a relationship between ovarian hormones and alcohol use. This session will describe how alcohol use and drinking motives vary across the menstrual cycle in a large, transdiagnostic sample of psychiatric outpatient females.

As the largest prospective study of alcohol use and the menstrual cycle in a clinical sample to date, our findings encourage individual assessment of cyclical changes in alcohol use in females who may be at risk of negative health outcomes.

Speaker: Jordan Barone, B.A.

CYCLE SCIENCE

This session presents an emerging framework for understanding when individuals may be most likely to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors and who may be at the highest risk.

Speaker: Sarah A. Owens, MS is a current Clinical Psychology Resident at Brown University and will complete her postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University in the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center next year. She will receive her doctorate from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where her NIMH-funded dissertation investigated menstrual cycle exacerbation of suicide risk in adolescents.

CYCLE SCIENCE

Sex steroid hormones regulate regions of the mammalian brain that support a multitude of higher-order cognitive functions. In this talk, Dr. Emily Jacobs will share recent findings from her lab, which uses multi-modal brain imaging, endocrine, and computational approaches to understand the extent to which sex hormones influence the structural and functional architecture of the human brain.

Major initiatives include the study of neuroendocrine aging during the midlife transition to menopause, pharmacological studies of gonadal hormone suppression, and dense-sampling studies across the menstrual cycle.

Speaker: Dr. Emily Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences. She holds a B.A. in Neuroscience from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UC Berkeley. Prior to UCSB, she was an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and in the Department of Medicine/Division of Women's Health at Brigham & Women's Hospital.

CYCLE SCIENCE

Raina D. Pang, Ph.D. of the University of Southern California discusses her research on the impact of the menstrual cycle on smoking.

This webinar focuses on various methodological approaches to studying the menstrual cycle on smoking. Specifically, studies include laboratory, Ecological Momentary Assessment, and daily hormone sampling.

Dr. Pang is an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Southern California. As a scientist, she uses human behavioral pharmacology and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to study substance use health disparities (e.g., sex/gender differences, female-specific factors, psychiatric comorbidity).

CYCLE SCIENCE

In this session, clinical researcher and Associate Professor, Erika Comasco, will present the findings of research on Ulipristal Acetate as a potential new treatment for PMDD. This webinar includes clinical and neuroimaging insights.

Progesterone is posited to be implicated in the symptomatology of PMDD, thus the efficacy of a selective progesterone modulator (SPRM) for PMDD has been tested. The findings of the first multicenter randomized controlled trial will be presented along with the observed effects of SPRM on brain function and structure.

CYCLE SCIENCE

Speaker: Dr. Jeff Kiesner

Join Dr. Jeff Kiesner (Associate Professor at Univ. of Padova, Italy) for a presentation on analytic strategies used to study menstrual cycle-related changes in a variety of outcomes measures. Specifically, the talk will focus on quartic polynomial regressions and cosine regressions. Examples will be presented, and limitations will be discussed in relation to diverse timing of symptom change during the menstrual cycle.

Deck (for educational purposes and not for reproduction) can be downloaded here.

CYCLE SCIENCE

Speaker: Dr Liisa Hantsoo

Dr. Hantsoo will discuss how she accounts for the menstrual cycle in her psychophysiology research. She will focus on acoustic startle response in PMDD.

CLINICAL PRACTICE

In this webinar, Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, Ph.D, IAPMD Clinical Advisory Board Chair, will be giving an overview of the current evidence-based treatment of PMDs and highlighting the many areas that need further research. We know many providers want to have a better understanding of treatment approaches in premenstrual disorders so they can better assist their patients. Special attention will be paid to the need for cross-disciplinary care and case management. This 60-minute webinar will cover the following:

SSRIs

Oral Contraceptives

Other hormonal medications

Psychotherapy for symptom management (CBT/DBT)

Chemical Menopause (GnRHa)

Surgical Menopause

For provider treatment guidelines:

Evidence-based Treatment Guidelines

CYCLE SCIENCE

An IAPMD Cycle Science Webinar hosted by Tory Eisenlohr-Moul with speaker Dr. Katja Maria Schmalenberger (Germany).

Despite decades of research on the physiological and psychological effects of the menstrual cycle, studies have not sufficiently adopted consistent methods for operationalizing the menstrual cycle. This has resulted in substantial confusion in the literature and limited possibilities to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In order to facilitate a more rapid accumulation of knowledge on cycle effects, we developed a set of integrative guidelines and standardized tools for studying the menstrual cycle which will be presented in this session.

CYCLE SCIENCE

This webinar introduces cycle diagnostics methods, with a focus on PMDD. We will then describe the CPASS framework for PMDD diagnosis, how it is used, and its benefits. Finally, we will introduce its free and open implementation in R within the CPASS R package. The main functionality of the package will be demonstrated with several use cases. We will conclude by discussing the future inclusion of automated CPASS diagnosis tools into digital platforms for patients and clinicians.

CYCLE SCIENCE

In this webinar, Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, Ph.D, IAPMD Clinical Advisory Board Chair presents an introduction to the IAPMD Cycle Science Community - and why it is so needed.

Although the effects of the menstrual cycle on emotion, thinking, and behavior have fascinated scientists for years, pervasive methodological problems have limited the ability of this research to improve menstrual and mental health. A related problem is that a relatively small number of laboratories are focused primarily on the relationship between the menstrual cycle and mental health, leading to a void in training, mentorship, and networking opportunities for scientists interested in these topics. So how do we fix that? We create a Cycle Science Community!