Book title: Perimenopause or Does Your Life Really Suck?

Book title: The Caregiver's Guide to Perimenopause

Axis' logo features a succulent, which grows despite adverse conditions. It symbolizes the growth that all patients are capable of.

A companion guide for partners launches alongside it, because the people closest to her usually have no idea what’s happening either

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Axis Integrated Mental Health today released Perimenopause? Or Does Your Life Really Suck?, a free ebook written by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kartiki Churi, MD that answers the question thousands of women in their forties are quietly asking themselves. Is this a mood disorder, or is this just my life now? The guide explains with humor and compassion why midlife mood changes are common at this age, and it’s written for the woman who still shows up for everything while privately wondering what happened to her.

Depression risk genuinely rises during the menopause transition and stays elevated into the early years after a woman’s final period regardless if they ever experienced depression before or not. A 2024 review of seven studies and more than 9,000 women found that women in perimenopause are 40% more likely to experience depression than women who are not in the transition. Earlier work known as the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles found that women with no past depression who entered perimenopause were about twice as likely to develop real depressive symptoms as women who had not yet started the menopausal transition. Meanwhile, women over their 40’s are also simultaneously dealing with teenagers, aging parents, a career peak, and possibly a marriage under strain. It’s easy to see why women can’t tell if they are experiencing perimenopausal depression, when there are so many reasons to choose from of why she may be more irritable and sad than before.

“Every perimenopausal woman I see has already built a case against herself,” said Dr. Kartiki Churi, Chief Medical Officer at Axis Integrated Mental Health. “She’s decided she’s ungrateful, or weak, or just bad at a life she used to handle easily. What she hasn’t been told is that her brain chemistry is moving underneath her, and that this shows up as rage and numbness far more often than it shows up as crying. The tragedy is that perimenopausal depression is treatable, and there are more effective treatments today than just taking more antidepressants.”

What the Perimenopausal Depression eBook Covers
The eBook takes the research on perimenopausal depression seriously and itself lightly. It explains why a normal hormone test rules nothing out, since mood tracks with estrogen swings, rather than the overall level. It covers why late perimenopause is often the worst stretch, often the time when an antidepressant that’s been working for years suddenly seems ineffective. It walks through the symptoms women are least likely to admit to, including anger at people they love, flatness instead of sadness, brain fog and quietly fearing dementia, and awakening at 3 a.m. every single night. It also gives her a way to separate the two. Journal prompts, tips and tricks for dealing with rage moments, and practical advice about treatments and insurance can help her stop grading her own character and start describing her symptoms accurately to someone who can help.

Perimenopause? Or Does Your Life Really Suck? is available free at axismh.com/perimenopause-ebook/.

A Second Guide for Caregivers of Perimenopausal Women is Also Available
Axis also released a companion The Caregiver’s Guide to Perimenopause, written for partners, spouses, and adult children who can see that something has changed and have no framework for it.

“Many loved ones of perimenopausal women don’t have a name or a strategy for what they see her going through,” said Liesl Leary-Perez, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Axis Integrated Mental Health. “They’ve spent years taking the irritability personally, because nobody explained the structural brain changes perimenopause initiates. That misunderstanding does real damage to marriages and relationships, and most of it is preventable with information and empathy.”

The caregiver guide covers what the transition does to mood, what helps and what makes it worse, how to raise the subject without triggering a fight, and how to tell the difference between a hard season and something that needs clinical attention.

Availability
Both guides are free and require no purchase, appointment, or intake form. Women who want to speak with a clinician can reach Axis at 720-400-7025 or book a consult with a team member to get their questions about treatments and costs answered. New patients are typically seen within seven days.

About Axis Integrated Mental Health

Axis Integrated Mental Health is a psychiatric practice serving the Denver metro area, with clinics in Aurora, the Denver Tech Center, Boulder and Louisville, and Westminster, plus telehealth across Colorado. Axis treats depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, and related conditions, and offers advanced options including Deep TMS using the BrainsWay H-Coil and Spravato esketamine nasal spray. The practice has been recognized as ColoradoBiz Top Startup of the Year, a Best of Mile High Awards honoree three years running, Boulder County Gold winner for Best Mental Health Clinic, and a Denver Business Journal Partners in Philanthropy honoree.

Liesl Leary-Perez
Axis Integrated Mental Health
+1 720-400-7025
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