Nearly one in two Australian women with endometriosis or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) report depression, according to new national research released today. The Beyond the Surface 2026 report, from Women’s Mental Health Australia, found 56 per cent of Australian women are experiencing mental health issues this year, with rates of depression and anxiety up to 2.2 times higher among women with these conditions. The disparity extends to suicide and self-harm, reported by 13 per cent of women with endometriosis and 10 per cent with PMOS, compared with 4 per cent across the full sample.
Report co-author Professor Bronwyn Graham, Director of the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine, an initiative of the George Institute, UNSW’s Australian Human Rights Institute and Deakin University, said the findings point to a practical fix rather than a new system. “Women are being asked to manage two separate journeys, one for their body and one for their mind, and to find their own way between them at the point they are least able to,” Professor Graham said. “We simply need to strengthen existing services by embedding routine mental health assessments, training clinicians and creating clear referral pathways within services women already attend, such as government-funded Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics.”
The research, based on a nationally representative study of 9,000 Australian women, calls for integrated mental health assessment and support to become standard within services such as government-funded Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics. Read the full media release here.
