Psychosis and the menstrual cycle

Lorraine Dennerstein; Fiona Judd; Brian Davies

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb136197.x

Psychosis and the menstrual cycle

Lorraine Dennerstein, Fiona Judd, Brian Davies

In: Medical Journal of Australia · 1983 · vol. 1(11) , pp. 524–526 · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb136197.x · PMID:6682476 · W132327758

article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations

View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This case study reports a puerperal psychosis that recurred monthly with menses and was successfully treated with danazol, a steroid that inhibits ovulation.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

A case of a puerperal psychosis in a 26-year-old woman who had a strong family history of schizophrenia is reported. Her symptoms resolved with chlorpromazine and electroconvulsive therapy, but recurred each month just before the onset of menses. The cyclical recurrence of symptoms was prevented by therapy with danazol, a synthetic steroid which inhibits ovulation and may influence several levels of the reproductive control mechanism from the hypothalamus to the uterus. This therapy may be helpful for other women who suffer from recurrence of severe psychiatric disorders in close association with the menstrual cycle.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (3)

Cited by (3)

References (13)

Danazol and the premenstrual syndrome. via openalex
Dynamic tests of hypothalamic and pituitary function in women treated with danazol via openalex
Prevention of recurrent menstrual psychosis by an oral contraceptive via openalex
doi:10.1176/ajp.139.4.475 via openalex
doi:10.1016/s0002-9378(16)34387-3 via openalex
doi:10.1176/ajp.139.1.119 via openalex
doi:10.1007/springerreference_121117 via openalex
doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1954.tb05693.x via openalex
doi:10.1136/pgmj.55.640.87 via openalex
doi:10.1007/978-94-011-6255-5_1 via openalex
doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5115.148 via openalex
W165814157 via openalex
doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92819-1 via openalex

Cited by (3)

Source provenance

openalex: last seen: 2026-05-10T11:08:45.662557+00:00

License: CC0 · commercial use OK

[1] Dynamic tests of hypothalamic and pituitary function in women treated with danazol 1982

[2] Danazol and the premenstrual syndrome. 1979

[3] Prevention of recurrent menstrual psychosis by an oral contraceptive 1980