I am shocked, too!

I tried to inquire about this, thyroid conditions, and midlife crises altogether affecting mood, the psychologists tend to take the individual responsibility stance by looking into why we have an external loci of both control and responsibility, or by separating medical from psychological in such cases - believing that our medical issues as we age are "normative," and thus expected, so therefore they don't need to be screened and treated to alleviate symptoms - that that's what psychiatrists and primary care physicians and OBGYN's are for. It's like ignoring situations that psychotherapy could benefit if they would widen their philosophies a bit and understand holistic issues, person-centered approaches, eclectic methods, a team-approach to mental health care (such as combining the interactions between physical symptoms - not to be confused with somatoform or fictitious disorders - and psychological symptoms).

For example, when I met with Dr. David Spiegel at Stanford, I (along with some very brilliant high schoolers - our future leaders in psychological and behavioral sciences) had learned that cancer patients could be treated with self-hypnosis, in much the same ways that some former smokers can be treated with self-hypnosis as well. Self-hypnosis is a form of adaptive dissociation. It's also the way special ops in the military are trained to withstand pain when they are being tortured. This is not to be confused with the dissociative disorders, which is more automatic (yet manageable), but it has more to do with how we can use what our bodies and minds have access to when we sense pain or danger.

If Dr. Spiegel can arrive at psychological methods for physiological illnesses, so, too, can there be evidence-based practices for women experiencing perimenopause, menopause, and/or other reproductive issues. Additionally, there can be solutions for men and women dealing with midlife crises, other aging changes, and even male-based issues such as prostate pain, back pain, etc.

Dr. Spiegel also discussed mindfulness meditation and some other things I can't remember. He is one of many scientists looking into this very thing.

THE CAVEAT: However, psychological and behavioral sciences depend on funding - largely from the government, including the NIH. When funding isn't available through the government, then it has to come from private donors (as long as it remains ethical and without strings attached, such as from philanthropists - I'm thinking of that donor spoken about in "Mountains Beyond Mountains" concerning Dr. Paul Farmer's now popular Partners in Health institution). But in today's pandemic world, there are fewer resources than ever because of our changing governments, our increasing deaths, our crippling economies, and our increasing disabled persons unable to work and therefore unable to help fund through taxpayer dollars that which helps science advance in areas like mental health promotion, mental health for physiological disorders, etc.