Selected Podcast

Mental Illness in Women: Are Your Hormones to Blame?

Mental Illness in Women: Are Your Hormones to Blame?
For the first time, a scientific study has shown how and why hormones are crucial players in mental illness in women.

The paper, appearing in the journal, Psychological Medicine, outlines how ovarian hormones can actually change the genes that trigger psychological symptoms, such as emotional eating in women with eating disorders.

These profound changes occur over just days during the menstrual cycle, not months or years, driving binge eating up to four times higher than other times of the month.

What are other ways do hormones play a role in mental illness in women?

Kelly Klump, PhD, shares her latest research that shows a connection between hormones, women's health and mental illness.
Featured Speaker:
Kelly Klump, PhD
Kelly KlumpKelly Klump is an MSU Foundation Professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University (MSU). In 1998, she received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota.

She completed her pre-doctoral, clinical internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine (1997-1998), and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine (1998-2000).

Her research focuses on genetic and biological risk factors for eating disorders using both human (i.e., twin studies) and animal models. She is particularly interested in developmental changes in genetic and hormonal risk factors and their meaning for the development of eating disorders.

Dr. Klump has published over 145 papers and has received a number of federal grants for this work, including several funded NIMH projects. She also has been honored with numerous awards including the David Shakow Award for Early Career Contributions to Clinical Psychology from the American Psychological Association, New Investigator Awards from the World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics and the Eating Disorders Research Society, the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, the MSU Distinguished Contributions to Honors Students, and the Price Foundation Award for Research Excellence from the National Eating Disorders Association.

Dr. Klump is the first faculty member to receive a MSU Foundation Professorship, which is an endowed professorship that aims to recruit and retain top faculty at MSU. She was the 2007-2008 President of the Academy for Eating Disorders, the largest, international professional organization dedicated to the treatment, research and prevention of eating disorders.
Tagged under