Season 1, BONUS #3, Details:
Mental Health: Support for All Stages of Life with Dr Emma Hayward
Listen to the episode:
Episode Overview:
In this bonus episode, Dr Emma Hayward joins us to unpack how hormonal changes, life events, family support and culture all interact in shaping a woman’s mental health – and why educating men and communities is key to truly supporting women’s psychological wellbeing.
Detailed Episode Show Notes:
“Mental health is important at any stage of life, but we have periods of vulnerability.”
Welcome to our next bonus podcast episode with Dr Emma Hayward, focusing this time on women’s mental health.
From periods to pregnancy and all the way through menopause, our hormones can have a powerful – and often confusing – impact on our mental health.
Dr Emma Hayward helps clear up the line between what’s “just hormones”, what might be a clinical mental health condition, and why we don’t need to pathologise every ‘up and down.’
Our hosts, Marianne Storey and Anjali Mavi explore everything with Dr Emma – from PMS and PMDD to postnatal depression, menopause, and even men’s hormones.
👤 Guest profile:
Dr Emma Hayward
- Practicing NHS GP
- Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University
⏱️ Chapters:
[0:00] – Introductions and Mental Health Across Life Stages
[6:30] – Family Support, Culture and Stigma Around Depression
[10:50] – Educating Men and Breaking Taboos Around Periods and Menopause
🔑Key Themes:
- Hormones and Women’s Mental Health Across Life Stages
- Distinguishing “Normal” Ups and Downs from Clinical Conditions
- Culture, Stigma and Family Support
- Educating Men and Including Them in the Conversation
📖 Resources Mentioned:
- Women’s Health Support in Dorset: https://ourdorset.org.uk/women/
- Steps 2 Wellbeing: https://www.steps2wellbeing.co.uk/
- Cherry Tree Nursery: https://plantsandminds.org.uk/cherry-tree-nursery/
🔗 Connect with us:
- Dr Emma Hayward, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dremmathurston/
- Marianne Storey, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-storey-46938435/
- Anjali Mavi, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjali-mavi-66a5a86/
- Dorset Women CIC Website: https://dorsetwomen.org.uk/
- Women’s Health Support in Dorset: https://ourdorset.org.uk/women/
🎯 Action Items for Listeners:
- Seek help if something feels “not normal for you.”
- Pay attention to your own patterns and cycles.
- Talk openly with family and partners about mental health.
- Use community and social support, not just medical care.
- Visit the Women’s Health website for evidence-based health information.
- Share the podcast and website with other women in the community.
- Consider how to advocate for women’s health in your local area.
- Encourage male family members and partners to learn about women’s health issues.
💡 Top Quotes:
1:35 – Dr Emma Hayward
“Mental health is important at any stage of life, but we have periods of vulnerability, if we’re talking specifically about hormonal related mental health. So pregnancy and postpartum is a particularly vulnerable time, but also menopause. It’s really because we’re whole humans. It’s not like our heads and our bodies are disconnected.”
3:30 – Dr Emma Hayward
“We have PMS, which most people know about. But there’s also PMDD… much more severe than ‘just’ PMS.”
4:35 – Dr Emma Hayward
“If you have a pre‑existing mental health condition, it might be that you’re more predisposed… to say postnatal depression or even postnatal psychosis.”
9:00 – Dr Emma Hayward
“Being isolated and lonely is worse for our health than smoking 10 cigarettes a day.”
Transcript: Find the full transcript here. Please note, these notes are AI generated.