Finding Your Emotional Balance

A wise, empathetic guide to emotional and mental health for women of all ages.

Women are twice as likely as men to become depressed. While they seek help for mental disorders more often than men, they also seek to help others, trying to keep everyone happy while taking care of parents, spouses, and children. Sometimes, doing it all is doing too much.

In Finding Your Emotional Balance, Dr. Merry Noel Miller offers women of all ages advice for coping with life's challenges while increasing its joys. Drawing on her three decades of experience as a psychiatrist specializing in women's mental health—as well as her own personal struggles with depression and grief—she explains the special vulnerabilities and strengths of women during adolescence, the childbearing years, menopause, and late in life.

Dr. Miller opens each chapter with stories about women who are dealing with issues related to their stage in life. She discusses common mental disorders in the context of life stages, exploring the symptoms of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, and unresolved grief. She also offers a variety of remedies, suggesting medical and nonmedical approaches to finding emotional balance even in the most stressful times. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested readings and websites.