October 18 is World Menopause Day
Menopause is a global experience altering women’s physical and mental health in sigificant ways. While it is considered routine, the impact of menopause on the life of women everywhere is varied and permanent. Menopause happens all over the world to bodies with a uterus that have had a menstrual cycle. When that cycle stops and stays gone for more than a year, you’ve entered menopause—but what does that mean? Why does it happen and what happens next?
Before you begin, remember that our professionals are always here to help
For World Menopause Day this October, we’re talking all things menopause and highlighting this years theme—cognition and mood—on the LunaJoy blog.
Why is women's mental health important to everyone?
Women’s mental health matters because women matter. It’s that simple, but it’s also so much more complex. World Menopause Day seeks to focus the global conversation on women in a particular season of life where they may be experiencing unprecedented uncertainty while receiving minimal support medically or personally.
Women’s mental health is directly impacted by both the changing hormonal landscape within them and the world around them. How would you feel if, one day, you woke up and your body was betraying you by responding in entirely new ways to the sounds and feelings around you? If you woke up one day and you felt like you’d woken up as someone else? Menopause symptoms may feel like this and, if you have a uterus, menopause is an eventuality. If you don’t, it’ll happen to someone you know and love. Women’s mental health matters because women matter.
Menopause by the numbers
The average age when a woman enters menopause in the United States is 51 years old. Around the world, this age may vary. Even still, it’s anticipated that the global population of menopausal and post-menopausal women will reach more than 1.2 billion. With more than 47 million more women reaching this menopausal milestone each year, that’s a lot of women having a shared and yet utterly unique experience.
Here a few of the symptoms of menopause
While the list of menopause symptoms is long and can be quite dramatically varied, we’ve put together a list of some of the things we see mentioned most often:
Brain Fog
Hot Flashes
Insomnia and restlessness
Unpredictable mood changes
Loss of sex drive
Increased anxiety
This list is only a fraction of the recognized and reported symptoms and each item on it has its own facets in how they may impact you. While there are therapeutic options that can support you with the physical symptoms of menopause, many women find themselves feeling most distressed about feeling like a stranger in their own head.
Here’s how (and why!) menopause impacts cognition and mood
Women’s mental health is closely linked with hormones because your sex hormones are closely related with the neurotransmitters that regulate mood. Think of the neurotransmitters as taxis going straight to your brain, and the sex hormones are passengers with a tight schedule. Beause menopause is a cessation of menstrual processes in the body, the hormones that trigger your cycle begin to change as well.
During the early stages of menopause, this may occur in bursts with lots of uncomfortable uncertainty in hormonal changes. You’ll produce less estrogen and in response you may feel your feelings a bit differently. Estrogen gives many messages to your body, and one of them is telling your serotonin receptors what’s up. Serotonin is primarily responsible for feelings of calm, happiness, and sleep regulation. When its friend estrogen stops showing up, you might find your mood is changeable and so too is your sleep.
In response, you might find that your thoughts get foggy and a little less linear. Your memory might take a vacation without much warning as well. While it’s beyond frustrating and can make you feel less than human, it’s all part of the biological process of hormone shifts and not at all something you’ve done wrong.
Getting support for your changing body and mind
When both your cognition and mood take a turn from your regularly scheduled programming (or, you know, any semblance of sense at all), you might not know where to turn next.
Finding a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in women’s mental health can help you to feel more grounded in your changing world as well.
Your medical doctor or gynecologist is also a great place to turn to ensure that your body is responding the way it should and get support for the ways your body is changing physically as well.
Caring for Women’s Mental Health this World Menopause Day
No matter how you experience to support most effectively, the important thing is that you know there are options available to you. From loved ones to a medical team, feeling supported and validated is an important part of effectively caring for your health this World Menopause Day and beyond.
For more information on World Menopause Day, please visit their website here.
If you are experiencing symptoms related to menopause, please know that you are not alone. LunaJoy offers support for all aspects of this transitional time in your life. Reach out to us today for more information about how we can help ease the transition into menopause.
For support with your menopause experience, contact Luna Joy today.
