Dealing with crippling uncontrollable rage, anxiety, and crushing depression? Feeling like you're completely falling apart and your doctor's solution is to just ‘manage your stress’? Not sure if what you're experiencing is depression, perimenopause, or something else entirely?

You're not losing your mind, you're not broken, and you're definitely not alone.

Consider this startling statistic from the SWAN study: a woman’s risk of experiencing depression in the menopause transition is 59% if she has a previous history of depression, and 28% for those without a history of depression. Those are some big numbers. And most women, and their doctors, are unaware of this risk.

Meet Dr. Ariel Dalfen, a psychiatrist who spent 12 years running the largest women's mental health program in Ontario – where she became frustrated watching women suffer unnecessarily. As CEO and Co-founder of BRIA, a revolutionary virtual clinic, Dr. Dalfen and her Co-founder Dr. Bev Young have created the one-stop shop women desperately need: comprehensive, individualized mental health and hormone care that actually works.

In This Episode

• Why some women's brains are "hormonally sensitive" and how to identify if you're one of them
• The critical questions about your reproductive history that can predict your perimenopause experience
• How to distinguish between perimenopause symptoms, depression, and PMDD
• Why tracking your cycles gives healthcare providers game-changing data
• The non-negotiables for mental health survival in midlife
• How BRIA's team-based approach stops women from falling through the cracks
• The stigma that’s keeping women silent about their struggles
• Dr. Dalfen’s new "Menopause Mental Health Certification" program

If you've been suffering alone or thinking this is just how midlife feels, this conversation will change everything. Dr. Dalfen will show you there's so much more than just surviving – and how to start thriving.

Connect with Mikelle & Michelle at This is Perimenopause

• Email us and let us know what you think of the podcast and what topic you want us to cover next.
• Sign up for our weekly newsletter
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Instagram
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Facebook

Dr. Ariel Dalfen Bio

Dr. Ariel Dalfen is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience treating women across reproductive life stages: from those trying to conceive, those who are pregnant and postpartum through to the perimenopause/menopause population. She ran the largest women's mental health program in Ontario at Mount Sinai Hospital for 12 years and started the first of its kind province-wide women’s mental health telemedicine program in 2014.

In 2022, Dr. Dalfen co-founded and became the CEO of BRIA (www.betterbria.com) - a virtual care platform for women with mental health issues across reproductive life stages.

After completing her undergraduate degree at Princeton University, she attended McMaster University medical school, and then completed her specialty training in psychiatry at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Dalfen's research area explored technology innovations in women's mental health and she has published in academic medical journals.

She lectures for medical and public audiences on various topics related to women’s health and has been a medical contributor for many media outlets, from television to podcasts. In 2008, she published a book, When Baby Brings the Blues: Solutions for Postpartum Depression. This book is highly regarded and utilized by both healthcare providers and the general public.

Links for this episode

www.betterbria.com

BRIA on Instagram

In the second part of this incredible episode with Master’s level clinician and eating disorder specialist, we dive even deeper into how disordered eating shows up in ways we never expected – especially during the hormonal chaos of midlife.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why "clean eating" (clinically called orthorexia) is becoming increasingly problematic
• The deeper psychological roots beneath our food and body struggles
• How to model healthy eating behaviors for your children without passing on your own issues
• That freedom from these patterns is absolutely possible, no matter how long you've been stuck

We live in a culture that normalizes disordered eating. Luckily Kyla is here to show us what true food freedom actually looks like.

Connect with Mikelle & Michelle at This is Perimenopause

• Email us and let us know what you think of the podcast and what topic you want us to cover next.
• Sign up for our weekly newsletter
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Instagram
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Facebook

Kyla Fox Bio

Kyla Fox has established herself as a visionary and innovator, when it comes to re-framing the way Canadians think about and treat eating disorders. As someone who struggled herself with an eating disorder, Fox identified care gaps and fundamental flaws in the treatment and recovery approach. Kyla is a Master’s level clinician with degrees from both the University of Toronto in the Master’s of Social Work program as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Women’s Studies. Kyla is a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers and is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She is also a member of the Academy of Eating Disorders and the National Eating Disorders Association. With such deep and varied experience in the field, Kyla is regularly called on by Canada’s top media outlets as a special commentator on a broad list of topics, including eating disorders, self-esteem, women’s health, body image, pregnancy and body confidence and more. For more information please visit www.kylafoxcentre.com.

Links for this episode

Instagram: @KylaFoxRecovery

Facebook: @KylaFoxCentre

Twitter: @KylaFoxCentre

The Centre

Think eating disorders only affect teenagers? Think again. What if we told you that the food rules, exercise obsessions, and body struggles you're experiencing during perimenopause might actually be disordered eating in disguise?

Meet Kyla Fox, a Master's level clinician and eating disorder specialist who's spent 20 years revolutionizing treatment approaches. After her own struggle with an eating disorder, Kyla identified critical gaps in traditional recovery methods and founded an innovative treatment center that's helping thousands of women break free from patterns they didn't even realize they had.

From the woman who exercises for hours after eating to the one sneaking food when her partner's away (Michelle, I see you!), Kyla reveals how disordered eating shows up in ways we never expected – especially during the hormonal chaos of midlife.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The difference between eating disorders and disordered eating
• Why perimenopause often triggers or amplifies disordered eating patterns
• The three core symptoms of disordered eating: binge, purge, and restrict
• Why exercise is actually the most common form of purging behavior

We live in a culture that normalizes disordered eating. Luckily, Kyla is here to show us what true food freedom actually looks like.

Connect with Mikelle & Michelle at This is Perimenopause

• Email us and let us know what you think of the podcast and what topic you want us to cover next.
• Sign up for our weekly newsletter
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Instagram
• Follow This Is Perimenopause on Facebook

Kyla Fox Bio

Kyla Fox has established herself as a visionary and innovator, when it comes to re-framing the way Canadians think about and treat eating disorders. As someone who struggled herself with an eating disorder, Fox identified care gaps and fundamental flaws in the treatment and recovery approach. Kyla is a Master’s level clinician with degrees from both the University of Toronto in the Master’s of Social Work program as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Women’s Studies. Kyla is a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers and is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She is also a member of the Academy of Eating Disorders and the National Eating Disorders Association. With such deep and varied experience in the field, Kyla is regularly called on by Canada’s top media outlets as a special commentator on a broad list of topics, including eating disorders, self-esteem, women’s health, body image, pregnancy and body confidence and more.

For more information please visit www.kylafoxcentre.com.

Links for this episode

Instagram: @KylaFoxRecovery

Facebook: @KylaFoxCentre

Twitter: @KylaFoxCentre

The Centre