Cheers: Dr. David Rubinow & UNC Hospitals
Cheers for Dr. David Rubinow and the University of North Carolina Hospitals for creating a new clinic specializing in women's mood disorders, including postpartum depression and severe premenstrual syndrome.
In a bold move, Dr. Rubinow has moved care for such disorders out of the hospital's Ob/Gyn deparment and into the department of psychiatry, noting the tendency toward missing or misdiagnosing such problems by Ob/Gyn care providers.
Here's an excerpt from the Associated Press story about the UNC Hospitals change:
Rubinow and others who treat hormone-linked mood disorders say the conditions remain under-recognized and undertreated, which can lead to potentially devastating effects. That, they said, is despite broader awareness among both patients and physicians.
Some patients and doctors consider menopause a natural process that should not require medical treatment. Such disorders are often trivialized or not recognized as severe, Rubinow said.
"I think it does an enormous disservice to women to say that those who become depressed ... should simply learn to live with it," he said. "It's a barbaric notion to suggest that people should not get treatment. It's unconscionably stupid."