XXplored - Women, Hormones & Mental Health: Rethinking Psychiatric Disorders
Dementia Researcher Vodcast
05/08/26
•44m
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Globally, women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, and the risk peaks at moments of hormonal change: postpartum, the luteal phase, perimenopause. Why?
In this episode of XXplored, host Dr Laura Stankeviciute, University of Gothenburg is joined by Professor Vibe Gedsø Frøkjær, a leading researcher on serotonin and sex hormones at the University of Copenhagen, and Franziska Weinmar, a psychoneuroendocrinology PhD researcher at the University of Tübingen and host of the Let's Talk About Women podcast.
They get into the biology behind hormone shift sensitivity, what oestrogen actually does to the serotonin system, and why the gut-brain axis might matter more for women's mental health than most clinicians appreciate. They also tackle hormonal contraception and depression risk, why suicide statistics look so different by gender, and where the field still has big gaps to close.
Key takeaways
- Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, with risk clustering around hormonal transitions.
- The serotonin system is built to respond to sex hormones, which makes it a likely route by which hormonal shifts affect mood.
- Women differ in how sensitive their brains are to hormone shifts, and that sensitivity helps explain why some experience mood symptoms and others don't.
- The gut-brain axis is a real frontier for women's mental health, and may open up new treatment options through drug repurposing.
- Hormonal contraception works well for most women but carries a small heightened risk of depression that clinicians should counsel on more openly.
- Emotion regulation is a trainable skill and a useful clinical target across hormonal transitions.
- Gender differences in suicide reflect both how distress is expressed and how the care system recognises and responds to it.
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A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.
If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on our website.
Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
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We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the producers, funders, or sponsors.
Subscribe to our sister show 'Dementia Researcher The Blogs':
Previous Episode
Extended reality is starting to find a real place in dementia research and care. In this episode, host Dr Byron Creese is joined by David de Jong-Bambagioni, Dr Emilie Brotherhood, and Alice Rowe to explore how virtual, augmented, and mixed reality tools are being used in practice.
Together, they discuss how XR is helping to standardise cognitive assessments, simulate clinical environments, and support earlier and more accurate diagnosis. The conversation also looks at how immersive tools are being used to build empathy, giving clinicians and carers a better sense of what it might feel like to live with dementia.
The panel share examples from their own work, including virtual simulations to distinguish delirium from dementia, and digital environments designed to capture subtle behavioural changes in conditions like frontotemporal dementia. These approaches are opening up new ways to study cognition, behaviour, and patient experience in more realistic and scalable settings.
This episode offers a practical look at where XR is already making a difference, and where it might go next.
In this episode:
- How XR is being used in dementia research and care
- Using immersive environments for assessment and empathy
- Why co design and lived experience matter
- Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality explained simply
- Ethical risks and safeguards in vulnerable groups
- How researchers are moving into digital health
- Getting started with XR and finding collaborators
- Inclusion, global perspectives, and reducing bias
--
A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.
If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on our website.
Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
Follow us on social media:
- https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
- https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
- https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
- https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social
Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the producers, funders, or sponsors.
Subscribe to our sister show 'Dementia Researcher The Blogs':
Next Episode
Leaving Academia, Staying in Research
May 22
•64m
What happens when academia no longer feels like the right fit, but research still does?
In this episode, Adam Smith is joined by Dr Ellice Parkinson from Health Innovation East, Elizabeth 'Lizzie' English from the British Heart Foundation, and Dr Alice Carstairs from Alzheimer’s Society to talk about leaving academia while staying connected to research.
Together, they explore the career turns that took them from PhDs and lab work into roles in health innovation, charity, policy, evaluation, public engagement and research communications. They discuss what helped them make the move, what felt difficult, and how skills built in academia can be used in many different settings.
The conversation covers identity, confidence, networking, mentoring, transferable skills, and the quiet pressure many researchers feel to stay on a traditional academic path. It also challenges the idea that leaving academia means leaving research behind.
For PhD students, early career researchers, and anyone wondering what else might be possible, this episode offers practical advice, reassurance, and examples of careers where research still sits at the centre of meaningful work.
In this episode:
- Explore how researchers transition from academia to impactful roles in health innovation, research impact analysis, and science communication.
- Discover the metaphor of "doors" in academic careers and how choosing different paths can sustain meaningful research.
- Hear personal stories from former PhD students who found success and fulfillment outside traditional university settings.
- Learn about the transferable skills that ease the transition into non-academic roles and how to leverage them.
- Gain insights into the importance of networking, mentorship, and aligning career choices with personal passions and societal needs.
--
A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.
If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on our website.
Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
Follow us on social media:
- https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
- https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
- https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
- https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social
Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the producers, funders, or sponsors.
Subscribe to our sister show 'Dementia Researcher The Blogs':
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