This special issue examines how women’s psychological and social distress is increasingly expressed through the body, including autoimmune disease, chronic illness, reproductive and perinatal conditions, somatic syndromes, chronic pain, and medically unexplained symptoms. It responds to a growing crisis in women’s health marked by rising autoimmune disease, chronic comorbidity, and persistent gender bias in diagnosis and care.

By synthesizing psychiatry, neuroscience, gynecology, psychosomatic medicine, and social science, this collection advances integrative models of assessment and treatment that move beyond mind–body dualism. It foregrounds women’s lived experience as essential clinical evidence, treating subjective bodily distress as meaningful, patterned, and biologically real

We invite original research, reviews, clinical case series, and theoretical contributions that address the intersections of women’s mental health, trauma, embodiment, and systemic illness, with the goal of advancing integrative, holistic models of assessment and treatment.

This Topical Collection in Archives of Women’s Mental Health spotlights the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems across the menopausal transition, with an emphasis on hormonal approaches. We welcome studies that clarify when, how, and for whom menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) improves depressive, anxiety, cognitive, and sleep symptoms; compare MHT with antidepressants and psychotherapies; and evaluate combination or augmentation strategies. Priority areas include route and dosing (e.g., transdermal vs. oral), timing across peri- to postmenopause, safety and contraindications, shared decision-making, and patient-reported outcomes. We also encourage submissions on special populations (e.g., premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical menopause, severe mental illness, cardiometabolic comorbidities, breast cancer survivorship), mechanistic work linking hormonal dynamics to neurobiology, and implementation research across psychiatry, primary care, and gynecology. We invite original research, reviews, systematic reviews, or short communications that advance equitable, evidence-based care for midlife mental health.