BJPsych International spotlights women’s mental health

BJPsych International has launched its special issue focusing on women’s mental health.

The gold open access journal provides psychiatrists and all mental health professionals with an overview of current policy and practice through peer reviewed original research and systematic reviews from a global perspective. BJPsych International prioritises platforming authors from low- and middle-income countries and sharing developments in these regions.

The Women’s Mental Health issue highlights perinatal mental health, menopause and the different services across the continents discussing real-life issues including the current inequalities and insights for growth. As practiced with BJPsych International, the articles are from those on the ground and culturally informed in the areas they are addressing. This issue will give a wider look into the experiences of women’s health on a global scale and what that means for psychiatry.

“The articles emphasise culturally informed, accessible, high-quality care, and the vital role of psychiatry in advancing women’s mental health worldwide.”

— Hussien Elkholy, Deputy Editor, BJPsych International

To further highlight the special issue, the Article of the Month for May is Early maladaptive schemas as mediators of pronatalist pressures: comparative study of psychological distress in child-free women and mothers. Selected articles of the month are highlighted with a blog post from the author, read the blog post from Dr Maria Evangelopoulou with additional insight on what inspired this work and her experiences as a psychotherapist working with women over 30. With additional thoughts on the cultural sensitivities of motherhood and child-free women.

You can also watch the video byte giving a summary of the special issue’s themes and findings.

If you are interested in submitting an article to the journal, please look at the author instructions which includes information on article processing charges and waivers. Please email us for any general or pre-submission inquiries.

This article was included in our May 2026 eNewsletter.