Lee-Hou Tsai
Department of Psychiatry, Taichung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung, Taiwan.

Abstract:

Antipsychotic-induced amenorrhea is a serious concern among premenopausal women suffering from mental disorders. Among many women, menstruation is a symbol of femininity that indicates the ability to become pregnant naturally, or is a basis to determine if they are menopausal. Some patients believe the lack of menstruation signifies menopause and contributes to emotional instability or aggravation of their mental disorder. Patients with amenorrhea often seek help from gynecologists to induce menstruation. Peuskens et al. reported that amenorrhea occurred in 22-50% of women treated with antipsychotics. The prevalence of menstrual irregularities and amenorrhea is considered to be 15-97% in women receiving therapy for a psychotic disorder. It is also common for patients to discontinue antipsychotics due to amenorrhea, which in turn triggers relapses.

Keywords:premenopausal ,gynecologists ,antipsychotics ,hyperprolactinemia