Gender differences in psychopharmacology

At least half of all patients with psychiatric disorders are female. Depressive disorders occur twice as often in women than in men. Despite the need for a gender-specific approach in treating psychiatric disorders, little is known about gender issues in psychopharmacology. It has been recognized that women respond better than men to serotonin-modulating substances but that this effect is reversed after menopause. Furthermore, women develop gynecological complications under medication with certain psychopharmacological agents which calls the use of these drugs into question. Side effects such as weight gain, hyperglycemia, cardiac arrhythmias, and sexual dysfunction also occur more frequently in women than in men. Pregnancy is a particularly sensitive aspect. The risk that a mother with a psychiatric disorder could relapse if the drug is discontinued has to be weighed against the risk of the child being born with an anomaly or developing prenatal complications.