Women's emotional symptoms during the menopause vary. Some have no symptoms at all, others have mood swings, anxiety and depression. These symptoms can be frightening and surprise many women, adding to the burden of hot flushes and irregular periods.
loss of self-esteem. loss of confidence. low mood and feelings of sadness or depression. poor concentration – often described as 'brain fog' and/or lost words.
Symptoms can last for months or years, and can change with time. For example, hot flushes and night sweats may improve, and then you may develop low mood and anxiety. Some symptoms, such as joint pain and vaginal dryness, can carry on after your periods stop.
Common Emotional Symptoms of Menopause
Irritability. Increased impatience or total lack of patience. Aggression. Lack of motivation.
Hot flashes and vaginal dryness are the two symptoms most frequently linked with menopause. Other symptoms associated with menopause include sleep disturbances, urinary complaints, sexual dysfunction, mood changes, and quality of life.
Tearfulness can present in many different ways during menopause. For some people, they can experience crying spells, where tears spring up in short and sudden bursts with no identifiable trigger.
During menopause, and the decline of oestrogen that comes with it, you are left without the protective or regulating effect that oestrogen has over serotonin. This lack of benefit can leave you vulnerable to erratic changes in mood and social behaviour (plus the rest).
When hormone levels drop, serotonin levels also fall, which contributes to increased irritability, anxiety and sadness. “Falling estrogen and progesterone levels can trigger mood swings that make you less able to cope with things you'd normally let roll off your back,” says Payne.
Women's emotional symptoms during the menopause vary. Some have no symptoms at all, others have mood swings, anxiety and depression. These symptoms can be frightening and surprise many women, adding to the burden of hot flushes and irregular periods.
Such measures – talking to your family and doctor, building support systems in the community and at work, and seeking ways to manage stress – can help you in coping with the rollercoaster emotions and physician changes of menopause, which is a natural process women go through.
About 4 in 10 women have mood symptoms during perimenopause that are similar to PMS, or premenstrual syndrome. You might feel irritable, have low energy, feel tearful and moody, or have a hard time concentrating. Unlike PMS, these symptoms may come at times unrelated to your menstrual cycle.
Lower levels of estrogen have links to irritability, fatigue, stress, forgetfulness, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. The impact of these changing hormone levels may not only have a direct cause-and-effect relationship with depression, anger, and anxiety.
Some of the most common emotional changes that people share about estrogen are crying more, feeling more tender, and even experiencing greater empathy. These changes can be subtle or intense, depending on your body and sensitivity to GAHT.
However, other factors may also play a role, including a person's mental and physical health, and societal attitudes toward menopause and aging. The risk of depression appears to return to normal 2–4 years after the last menstrual period. Several treatments are available to manage the symptoms and alleviate stress.
With menopause, however, getting proper exercise can be an effective way to keep your mood swings in check. When we exercise, our brain releases endorphins that contribute to feelings of well-being, lessening feelings of depression or anxiety.
If you have estrogen or progesterone imbalances, you can have difficult remembering things. You might cry at the drop of a hat and you can experience mood swings from deeply sad one minute to happy the next.
Is crying a symptom of menopause? The answer is definitely yes. Just from all the responses that have come in, it's clear a lot of women do suffer from this. It seems to be one of those phases, so it shouldn't be something that you'll experience right the way through the menopause.
Postmenopause is the time after you've been without a menstrual period for 12 months.
The late stages of perimenopause usually occur when a woman is in her late 40s or early 50s. In the late stages of the menopausal transition, women begin missing periods until they finally stop. About 6 months before menopause, estrogen levels drop significantly.
Postmenopause is the time after menopause, when a woman hasn't experienced a period for over a year. Postmenopause, you will no longer have periods but some women do continue to experience symptoms of menopause.
This suggests that menopause plays a role in many midlife women's transition from a pear-shaped body (wide hips and thighs, with more weight below the waist) to an apple-shaped body (wide waist and belly, with more weight above the waist) (see figure).