Pink Walls: Depression, Ketamine, and Chronicity
WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly March 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1353/wsq.2026.a989469 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA personal narrative describes how a hysterectomy and oophorectomy at age 46, following ovarian torsion, induced sudden menopause that worsened chronic depression. Decades later, ketamine infusion treatments for depression led the author to recognize the surgery as iatrogenic harm, reflecting broader historical inequities in gynecological care based on gender, race, and region.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Narrative essay Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ketamine infusion treatments |
| Key finding | Argues that the author's hysterectomy/oophorectomy constituted iatrogenic harm and exemplifies chronic inequities in gynecological medicine based on gender, race, and region. |
Abstract
Abstract: After an episode of painful ovarian torsion, I accepted a surgeon's counsel to undergo a hysterectomy/oophorectomy at the age of forty-six. The sudden menopause this surgery brought on intensified a chronic depression. Several decades later, after undergoing ketamine infusion treatments for my depression, I recognized that surgery as an experience of iatrogenic harm, part of the chronic inequities of treatment based on gender, race, and region that are part of the history of gynecological medicine.