Hormonal

A Conversation About Women's Bodies, Mental Health and Why We Need to Be Heard

By: Eleanor Morgan

Narrated by: Eleanor Morgan

Hormonal explores everything from contraception to PMS, in relation to anxiety, depression and taboos about hysteria and the 'hormonal' woman. It is a compelling portrait of the modern landscape of women and health, showing us how to navigate stigma and misinformation.

Combining her own experiences with extensive research and expert contributions, Eleanor Morgan explores the relationship between the female body, the female mind and the ways in which women's bodies are being medicalised. As Morgan argues, we've gotten better at talking about mental health, but we still shy away from discussing periods, miscarriage, endometriosis and menopause. That results in a lack of vital understanding for women, particularly as those processes are inextricably connected to our mental health; by exploring women's bodies in conjunction with our minds, Morgan urges for new thinking about our health.

©2019 Eleanor Morgan (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Story not as expected

I was thinking this was going to be a story about female hormones that impact our menstrual cycles. Unfortunately, there are many things that effect or hormones. Very little of the book covers this because it is not easy to study. In fact, not to spoil the results, we know very little to why we experience pain around menstruation. This book does a better job covering the stigmas women face and explaining different parts of what our brain does (ex. amygdala, hypothalamus). I read the whole book hoping more of what I was looking for would come up, it never really did. It’s a good book about women’s struggles, but the title is a bit misleading because there is not enough research.