The End

Like Laura, I am sad to be done with this book! I think that textbooks should be written like this so they are more interesting, fun, and relevant. It wouldn't be such a chore to read them.

I like that Brizendine summarizes the book at the end and reiterates the things she finds most important, like how much stress can impact our lives and that "there is no unisex brain" (pg. 161). It is also helpful that she addresses a few last issues at the end.

I am also confused about Hormone Therapy. It is such an individual issue. Each woman is different. I am glad that more doctors are looking at this issue more closely instead of just prescribing the same amount of hormones to every woman at the menopause stage. This is such a big change, and there is a lot of life to live after it. It is scary that the risk for depression jumps so high at this stage; fourteen times the normal risk! (pg. 169). That is something that people and doctors need to be aware of.

Postpartum depression is a huge issue, even though it only affects about ten percent of women (pg. 181). I thought the number was higher than that just because it is such a big concern in this country. I also didn't really realize that it can take a year to show up. The female brain does some scary things.

I was a little bit surprised that sexual orientation was not in the book more. There are actually less than two pages about it. I would have liked to see what happens when two female brains deal with each other the way a female brain and a male brain do. What happens if both women go through menopause at the same time? How does the mommy brain develop for a woman whose partner carries a child?

Other than a few questions, I thought Brisendine did a very good job of wrapping the book up. It could have been twice as long and I still would have read the whole thing!