Women's Healthpreliminary · human dataDiscovery of the day
A review of 31 studies in 8,124 peri- and postmenopausal women found SNRIs showed positive effects on depressive symptoms more often than other non-hormonal drug classes, while SSRIs were modest and variable and gabapentinoids helped hot flushes but had limited effects on mood. Evidence for anxiety was inconsistent across all classes.
- Study design
- Systematic review
- Journal
- BMC Psychiatry
- Evidence
- preliminary
What it shows: Treat this as a lean, not a verdict: a sweep of all the studies covering 8,124 women found the evidence too mixed to combine statistically, with certainty ranging from very low to moderate. No trials pitted the drug classes directly against each other, so the ranking is inferred rather than tested.Systematic review · BMC Psychiatry
Efficacy and safety of non-hormonal pharmacotherapies for depressive and anxiety symptoms during the menopausal transition and postmenopause: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 2026Read the study →