Often suffer from insomnia, dreaminess, irritability, and palpitation;
Her family felt that her temper had deteriorated and she was often irritable;
…
This is known as “menopause”, a special period that may affect a woman’s quality of life and family relationships.
Whether in the hospital or in life, you can almost always hear words like: I am menopausal…can you understand me?
As a child or partner, you are also very confused and blame yourself. There are many examples of this.
What exactly is menopause? How does it affect women’s lives? This is a question that every woman needs to face.
- Why does “menopause” occur?
“Menopause” is not actually an accurate medical diagnosis, but includes the two processes of “menopausal transition/perimenopause” and “menopause” in medicine.
If the first menstrual period is the beginning of a girl’s entry into puberty, then natural menopause is the end of this “menstrual journey”.
Of course, this end is not reached all at once.
As follicles continue to be depleted in midlife, menstrual changes begin in a woman’s 40s.
Note: The average age at which menstrual changes appear is 47 years old, which varies among women.
At this time, “aunt” will still come, but her visits begin to become erratic. This is the “menopausal transition period.”
After several years of irregular menstruation (average age 51), menstruation stops, and 12 months of amenorrhea represents clinical menopause.
Farewell to a dear friend who has been with every woman from girl to woman, even to middle-aged women.
- Menopause: Challenges from the body
Saying goodbye to a “close friend” is not just as simple as amenorrhea. The end of menstruation will be accompanied by hormonal changes, which will affect neuroendocrine, metabolic, mental and psychological aspects.
Endocrine and metabolic effects
Due to hormonal changes, some women experience facial flushing, sweating, headache, dizziness, numbness and soreness in their limbs…
These are the physical changes women experience during menopause.
In addition, since menopausal women’s bodies are in a period of decline, they are prone to osteoporosis.
Psychological effects
For some women, physical sensations are not what bothers them the most. Some women also experience mild cognitive dysfunction such as insomnia, memory loss, and difficulty concentrating.
The biggest challenge comes from mood disorders – depression during the menopausal transition.
The depression that occurs during this period is similar to depression in other stages, but the causes may be different (such as the impact of physical changes).
Current survey results on psychological symptomatology show that anxiety and depression are a common mood disorder among women during the menopausal transition.
There are also many reports showing that women are at significantly increased risk of new-onset depression during the menopausal transition.
- Will I be more likely to be depressed?
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone going through the menopausal transition will experience depression.
However, women with a history of depression (including postpartum depression) are at higher risk than others, and their families should pay more attention to it.
- Are there any signs that we should be wary of?
Although women during the menopausal transition are at high risk for depression, screening rates for depression are low.
Therefore, while screening for depression in this population is important, timely detection by family members is equally important.
Depression, anxiety and sleep disorders are some of the mental symptoms that tend to occur during menopause.
depression
Depressed mood, lack of motivation to do things, lack of interest and fun in things they like, feeling that life is not pleasant, and negative words and deeds.
example
The extroverted Aunt Zhang has no interest in her favorite square dance and doesn’t want to go out and meet people; the beautiful Aunt Li is no longer interested in food and doesn’t want to travel, and her days feel like years; the hard-working Teacher Liu can’t lift her spirits and even I can’t even do housework…
anxiety
Feeling anxious and nervous all day long, restless, panicking for no reason, and in severe cases, may be restless.
Patients may often suspect that they are sick, leading to constant check-ups, medical visits, and treatments.
example
Aunt Liu was worried about her body. She sometimes felt palpitation and shortness of breath, abdominal discomfort, back pain, fear of nervousness, over-sensitivity to body sensations, and sought medical treatment everywhere. At the same time, even though her son feels that he has a happy life and a harmonious family, she is still worried about his life and work, causing him to have trouble sleeping and eating…
sleep disorder
Symptoms include difficulty falling asleep, shallow sleep, easy awakening, and reduced sleep time.
According to literature reports, the prevalence of insomnia among middle-aged women is as high as 42.7%, which is about 1.4 times that of men. This proportion even increases to 1.7 times among people over 45 years old.
Insomnia, or even not seeing each other all night, is really painful.
Maybe when your mother was about 50 years old, she would get angry because of trivial things in life, and would easily fall into anxiety. She would always wonder if she was sick, suffer from insomnia, and fall into one cycle after another…
In the past, we thought why our mother was making a fuss and making trouble unreasonably. We might use words to resist and scold her, thinking that we were winning face, but invisibly, we might be hurting her.
These “abnormal” symptoms may be caused by depression during the menopausal transition. Once a mother has these symptoms in her forties or fifties, which may even be severe enough to affect her normal life, it is recommended to seek medical treatment.
- How to respond?
“Depression” is not a pretense, it is a mood disorder that needs to be faced squarely and can be improved.
Likewise for menopausal transition depression, following the general principles of depressive disorders, coping methods include medication, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes.
medical treatement
Typically includes estrogen therapy and antidepressant medication.
If the main problem is depression and the hot flashes are not serious, it is recommended to give some antidepressants first.
If these symptoms of the menopausal transition are more obvious: hot flashes, night sweats, etc.; combined with problems related to urogenital atrophy (vaginal dryness, pain, dysuria, dyspareunia, recurrent vaginitis, nocturia, frequency and urgency of urination) ), hormone supplementation therapy can be used at this time.
However, hormone therapy is not recommended for patients with a history of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, previous stroke, unexplained vaginal bleeding, high risk of endometrial cancer, or transient ischemic attack.
Medication also needs to weigh the benefits and risks, and must be used under the guidance of a specialist.
reasonable psychological treatment
Maybe the older generation will feel that it is shameful to seek a psychotherapist, but seeking the help of a psychological counselor and conducting systematic psychotherapy will be helpful.
lifestyle changes
An article on the website of Harvard Medical School states: There is a lot of clinical evidence that shows that any form of regular exercise is good at fighting depression because exercise can enhance endorphins, which are natural chemicals that produce a feeling of pleasure.
But the point is not the type of exercise, but regular exercise, and exercise can be as simple as walking every day, cleaning the room, playing with children, etc.
In addition, develop healthy eating habits: limit the intake of high-sugar foods, reduce caffeine and alcohol, and preferably have some healthy snacks around, such as fruits, nuts, etc.
If you are willing and have the conditions, you can also try the following:
Receive health education in advance
For women who are about to enter menopause, let them understand possible situations in the future and increase their attention to mental health.
Likewise, family members in close relationships should be aware of this.
self-regulation
It allows menopausal women and women who have gone through menopause to communicate, exchange experiences, learn relief methods, and try to enhance their self-confidence.
Of course, for her in menopause, she also needs the encouragement, companionship and recognition of her family.
We were once the children who clung to our mother’s lap when we were scared and needed our mother to wipe her tears when we were sad.
Now that we have grown up, we may no longer need our mothers to be too involved in our lives, but on the contrary, at certain stages, they need us more.
Twenty or thirty years later, we will inevitably experience this special period, and understanding it in advance may be a way to deal with it.
