E151: Dr. Susan Zink on Hormones, Postpartum Mood, and Perimenopause Anxiety Support & Tips!

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I’m joined by Dr. Susan Zink, a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in reproductive and integrative psychiatry. In this episode, we unpack mood and anxiety changes during pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause—what’s “normal,” what’s not, and why common doesn’t mean you have to suffer. Dr. Zink explains postpartum depression and anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and how to safely think about medications in pregnancy and breastfeeding. She also shares how hormone shifts in perimenopause can drive irritability, sleep issues, and brain fog, plus how an integrative approach using labs, supplements, movement, and sleep can support mental health. Tune in to learn practical, compassionate strategies to protect your mood through every stage of a woman’s reproductive life.\\Dr. Zink brings over 16 years of expertise as a board-certified adult psychiatrist. Her passion is helping women struggling with anxiety, depression, insomnia, or hormonal mood changes related to pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause feel like their best selves again. She completed rigorous premedical and medical education at Princeton and Georgetown, followed by specialty psychiatric training at UC San Diego.With a special focus on reproductive and integrative psychiatry, Dr. Zink is deeply knowledgeable about traditional psychiatric medicine and research-backed natural and complementary interventions. She has published articles and content about perinatal psychiatry and regularly provides didactic trainings on the topic to local medical school and residency training programs. She is accepting new patients in her private practice EleMental Integrative Psychiatry in Linwood, NJ.00:00 Welcome back & introducing Dr. Susan Zink00:41 Dr. Zink’s background in reproductive and integrative psychiatry03:45 Common misconceptions about mood changes in pregnancy & postpartum05:20 Why postpartum depression and anxiety are still under-recognized07:00 Postpartum screening tools (EPDS) and what happens after a positive screen08:25 Medications in pregnancy & breastfeeding: real risks vs. untreated illness12:15 Baby blues vs. postpartum depression and intrusive thoughts to watch for16:56 Perimenopause 101: hormone fluctuations, mood, anxiety, and sleep changes22:17 Dr. Zink’s integrative psychiatry approach: history, labs, lifestyle, and supplements28:28 Sleep, daily habits (like getting outside), and final message: don’t suffer in silenceConnect with Dr. ZinkInstagram (@elemental_integrative_psych)https://www.instagram.com/elemental_integrative_psych?igsh=dHN3NHVidGVtaDd4&utm_source=qrFacebook (EleMental Integrative Psychiatry)https://www.facebook.com/share/19hcH2Ysdx/?mibextid=wwXIfrConnect with Dr. RellerPodcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou... LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicineInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermdClearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.