Recent well-controlled studies suggest that estrogen has antidepressant act
ions in perimenopausal women. Estrogen may also have antidepressant actions
in postpartum women and across the life cycle for women who are resistant
to treatment with various antidepressants. The question, however, of which
depressed women to treat with antidepressants, which with estrogen, and whi
ch with both remains unanswered.