THE WOMEN’S HEALTH CRISIS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH
The Women's Health Crisis We Don't Talk About Enough
Last week, I came across a statistic that stopped me in my tracks: one woman dies every 80 seconds from cardiovascular disease. Not because these deaths are inevitable, but because women's symptoms are often dismissed, misunderstood, or diagnosed years later than they would be in men.
This single statistic reflects a much larger problem that affects every woman who has ever felt unheard in a doctor's office, every woman whose pain was attributed to stress or hormones without further investigation, and every woman who has been told her symptoms are "normal" when they decidedly don't feel normal to her.
When Your Body Becomes the Exception to the Rule
Here's something that might surprise you: from the air conditioning in your office to the crash test dummies that test car safety, the world is designed around male bodies as the default. In medical research, this default assumption has dangerous consequences. Women are more likely to die from heart attacks, experience adverse reactions to prescription medications, and have their symptoms dismissed by healthcare providers.
The numbers tell a stark story. Women are twice as likely to experience depression, insomnia, PTSD, and Alzheimer's disease. They're four times more likely to develop autoimmune conditions. Across 770 different diseases, women receive their diagnosis an average of four years later than men with the same condition.
As I see patients in my practice, I witness this gap daily. Women arrive having been told their anxiety is "just stress," their cognitive symptoms are "just aging," or their sleep problems are "just part of pre-menopause." Meanwhile, they've often spent years seeking answers, seeing multiple providers, and feeling increasingly disconnected from their own sense of wellbeing.
The Invisible Crisis of Midlife
The challenges become particularly acute for women over 35, during what researchers now recognize as one of the most vulnerable periods in a woman's life. Brain aging begins at 40 for women specifically—stress reduces total brain volume in women during their forties in ways that simply don't occur in men at the same age.
During perimenopause and menopause, women experience what scientists call "cerebral hypometabolism"—essentially, low brain energy. The brain's ability to use glucose as fuel begins to falter, leading to cognitive changes that many women describe as "brain fog" but which represent real, measurable changes in brain function.
Perhaps most concerning, perimenopause represents the greatest risk period for suicide attempts in women. Women aged 45-55 are three times more likely to attempt suicide than men, yet this critical window receives relatively little attention in healthcare settings.
Despite these realities, 73-75% of women don't receive the perimenopause treatment they need. Primary care providers often lack information and confidence about hormone therapy. Previous negative healthcare experiences discourage women from seeking help. The biology of menopause may be universal, but the personal experience varies dramatically—and too often, that personal experience includes feeling dismissed or unheard.
What This Means for Mental Health
In my work providing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, I see how these systemic healthcare gaps affect women's mental health. Many arrive having spent years with inadequately treated depression or anxiety, often because the hormonal and physiological factors contributing to their symptoms were never properly addressed.
Women seeking mental health treatment frequently carry the additional burden of having navigated a healthcare system that hasn't always taken their concerns seriously. They may have been told their symptoms were "just stress" or "just hormones" without receiving the comprehensive evaluation they deserved.
This is particularly relevant for ketamine therapy because women often respond differently to treatments than men do, yet much of our medical knowledge base has historically been built on male subjects. Understanding each woman's unique hormonal, psychological, and social context becomes crucial for providing effective care.
The Research We're Missing
Current medical research inadequately addresses women's health needs across multiple conditions. We have substantial gaps in understanding why women experience depression at twice the rate of men, particularly regarding the biological, hormonal, and social factors that contribute to this disparity.
Women experience insomnia at twice the rate of men, especially during hormonal transitions, yet this remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. Despite experiencing PTSD at twice the rate of men, the sex-specific neurobiological and immune mechanisms in women remain understudied.
Even conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, which affects women more frequently and severely than men, are often subject to gender biases that can lead to diagnostic delays and inadequate treatment.
Toward a Different Kind of Healthcare
The evolution from traditional healthcare models toward what some call "Women's Health 3.0" represents a shift from doctor-centered care to genuine partnership. Instead of the old model where physicians make all decisions, this approach empowers women as experts in their own health, with healthcare providers serving as knowledgeable partners rather than authoritative figures.
This means focusing on prevention and quality of life rather than just treating disease after it develops. It means using technology and evidence to personalize care rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions. Most importantly, it means believing women when they say something doesn't feel right.
What This Looks Like in Practice
When providing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, understanding these broader healthcare gaps shapes how I approach each person's care. I recognize that women seeking mental health treatment often arrive with complex presentations where hormonal, psychological, and social factors intersect in ways that haven't been adequately addressed elsewhere.
Your decision to seek mental health treatment, particularly innovative treatments like ketamine therapy, should never feel like you're starting from scratch or having to prove that your symptoms are real. You deserve care that acknowledges the full context of your experience, including the systemic factors that may have contributed to where you find yourself today.
Finding Your Voice in Healthcare
Understanding these disparities isn't about becoming discouraged with the healthcare system—it's about empowering yourself to advocate for the care you deserve. Trust your instincts about your own body and wellbeing. If something doesn't feel right, keep asking questions until you find providers who take your concerns seriously.
The women's health gap represents both a crisis and an opportunity. By acknowledging these realities and seeking providers who understand them, we can begin to create different experiences for ourselves and future generations of women.
Your symptoms matter. Your experience matters. And finding the right care—whether that's ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, hormone therapy, or other treatments—shouldn't require you to minimize your own expertise about what's happening in your body.
If you're a woman struggling with mood, cognitive, or other health concerns, particularly during midlife transitions, these experiences are both valid and treatable. Understanding the broader context of women's healthcare can be empowering as you seek the comprehensive, evidence-based care you deserve. Email us to start the conversation.
