Newswise — HOUSTON – (March 21, 2012) – The Women’s Behavioral Program at the Center for Behavioral Health, which offers specialized care for women with emotional challenges, has opened at St. Joseph Medical Center in partnership with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The program is directed by Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UTHealth Medical School.
“The program offers holistic care combined with cutting-edge behavioral treatment,” said Wills, who specializes in the treatment of women across a broad range of diagnoses. “We offer group, dance and music therapy in a spa-like setting designed to help women relax.” Comfortable furnishings, signature robes and slippers, flat-screen TVs, computers and other amenities are included.
The program treats women within the broad spectrum of mental illness, including substance abuse, trauma, bipolar disorder, mild psychosis, personality disorder and depression.
According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 20 million Americans have depression and women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with it. Biological, life cycle, hormonal and psychosocial factors may be linked to the higher rates of depression in women, the NIH says. After experiencing hormonal and physical changes after giving birth, for example, women may develop postpartum depression.
But some women may also experience depression during pregnancy, Wills said. “Ten to 20 percent of pregnant women may suffer from depression,” Wills said. “Signs include crying, tearfulness, lack of self care, lack of attention to obstetric care, concern they won’t attach to the baby or they don’t want the baby.” The program has been developed to accept pregnant women and allow visitation by children.
Other signs of depression in women may include feelings of sadness, emptiness, irritability, guilt, hopelessness and fatigue. A woman also might be experiencing depression if she has lost interest in favorite activities, is unable to concentrate and not sleeping or sleeping too much. Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts are important symptoms. Overeating or not wanting to eat are also signs.
Wills also has clinical expertise in treating women with eating disorders. “Often people think that a person with an eating disorder such as anorexia is doing it on purpose or it’s just a matter of eating,” she said. “What’s really going on is people are restricting their food intake as a form of control and power because they feel out of control in other areas. By not eating, they see themselves doing something other people can’t do.”
Wills said signs of an eating disorder include a body weight less than 85 percent of ideal body weight and the cessation of the menstrual cycle. “That’s where they’ve reached the level of needing immediate physiological help. Once they are stable medically, they can come here to continue their treatment.”
The new program is a collaboration among the employees and staff of St. Joseph Medical Center and UT Physicians, the medical practice of the UTHealth Medical School.
For more information on the program, call 713-757-7512.
St. Joseph Medical Center, a partnership with local Houston physicians and IASIS healthcare, provides comprehensive care in an acute care hospital setting. Houston’s first hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center provides services for outpatients as well as inpatients, with a full continuum of care in surgery, cancer care, emergency care, women’s services, behavioral health services, cardiovascular services, rehab, sports medicine and more. For more information on St. Joseph, please visit www.sjmctx.com or call 713.757.1000. To find a physician, call 713.757.7575.
The University of Texas Medical School at Houston is one of six schools of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), which also is home to schools of nursing, public health, dentistry, biomedical informatics and graduate studies in biomedical science. Founded in 1972, UTHealth is the most comprehensive academic health system in The University of Texas System and the U.S. Gulf Coast region. For more information, visit http://med.uth.tmc.edu/.
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