Women’s mental health clinic: A naturalistic description of the population attended in the San Diego VA Health Care System during a one year period

BackgroundDue to specific gender predispositions to present certain illnesses, increasing incorporation of women in the U.S. military system represents an important challenge to both medical and mental health providers. The aim of this report is to describe the main characteristics of the population attended in a mental health women's clinic at the San Diego Veterans Administration (VA) health care system.MethodPresent study is a comprehensive clinical report based on a retrospective analysis of data. The authors searched the San Diego VA Health Care database to find the main epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the population attended during a one year period. Epidemiological and clinical features of the sample are presented. Authors also describe, using clinical examples, the most important psychopathological expressions.ResultsThe most prevalent psychiatric diagnosis was major depressive disorder (n=28; 19.51%) followed by dysthymic disorder (n=8; 19.51%) and bipolar disorder (n=3; 7.31%). Authors discuss the importance of three variables: social isolation, quality of adaptive mechanisms and the role of self-stigmatization as crucial factors related to patient's clinical outcomes.LimitationsThe main limitation of this review derives from its naturalistic and descriptive methodology.ConclusionsThe majority of patients treated in our clinic experience some type of affective disorder. Main factors associated to recovery are: social integration and spiritual support, utilization of mature defense mechanisms and upper-level coping strategies and psycho-educational interventions directed to prevent self stigmatization. Clinicians should be aware of these factors in order to promote “upper-level coping strategies”.