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According to SBS News, new research from Women’s Mental Health Australia has highlighted higher rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm among women living with endometriosis, ovarian cysts and hormone-related conditions. The findings point to major gaps in Australia’s healthcare system and support calls for mental health care to be integrated with physical health services.

Almost half of women with endometriosis reported experiencing anxiety, the research found. Women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome reported depression and anxiety at rates between 1.6 and 2.2 times higher than women without the condition. The syndrome involves hormone imbalance, irregular periods and ovarian cysts.

The disparity also extended to suicide and self-harm. These were reported by 10 per cent of women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome and 13 per cent of women with endometriosis, compared with four per cent of women without those conditions. One in three women experiencing mental health issues were not seeking help, often because of financial and stigma-related reasons.

Women’s Mental Health Australia chief operating officer Katrina Locandro said every woman attending a government-funded endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic should receive an integrated mental health assessment and support as a standard offering. She said the proposal would strengthen an existing system by recognising that women’s physical and mental health are inseparable.

Report co-author Bronwyn Graham said embedding mental health assessment and support in existing services would be a “game-changer”. She said women were being asked to manage separate journeys for their body and mind, and to find their own way between them when they were least able to do so. Readers seeking mental health support can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.