Menopause and mental health

While some women have a relatively easy time of it, for other women perimenopause and menopause can bring significant effects on their mental health. The hormonal changes are as significant as going through puberty again, alongside a phase of life where women have many competing demands and stresses. Issues you’ve never experienced before like overwhelming anxiety may show up, or your usual coping strategies may not be working for you anymore. These challenges can prevent women from enjoying and finding meaning in their lives, and have a flow on effect to their careers and relationships with others.

To add to the complexity, hormone levels start to change in the perimenopausal phase often before more recognisable menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes or irregular periods. This disconnect can leave women wondering what on earth is going on while they experience the more vague symptoms of perimenopause.

Alongside physical impacts such as reduced energy, sleep problems, pains and headaches, and weight gain, perimenopause can bring a range of mental health challenges, such as:

• anxiety
• low mood
• irritability and mood swings
• memory and concentration problems, and
• changes in libido and sexual functioning.

It’s no wonder that women can find this phase overwhelming and isolating.

Talk-based therapy can’t change your hormones, but it can help you to feel better supported and to add to your toolkit to manage the effects of those hormonal changes.