Ask These Girls

As your body travels through the seasons of change into the menopause, depression can often strike.   Depression during menopause is totally different to feeling ‘a bit down’ it can leave you feeling a huge sense of despair and isolation.Like any form of depression, the one experienced in menopause is no different, it can totally take hold of the sufferer and make them feel in complete despair and an inability to increase energy levels enough to shake it off. There is no answer as to how long this depression will last for, it could pass fairly quickly or unfortunately it could carry on for years to come.

Menopause however, is merely a trigger for depression and not a sole cause. Depression at the time of menopause can appear from several totally different causes.On a physical level, the upheaval of the hormone levels changing can incur massive changes in the body which in itself can be very debilitating.The drop in estrogen levels can lead to fatigue that is totally alien to your usual energetic self.Your body takes on a new form of tiredness that a good nights sleep can no longer shift.    

You also feel mentally drained as well.Some women simply sail through the menopause effortlessly while others have a far harder time accepting that their youth is fading and the days of having children are drawing to a close.This is the time of life that some claim to have a midlife crisis and it’s widely known that men can go through similar feelings of being useless and unwanted, that life has passed them by with nothing more to look forward to.Destructive mindsets of feeling as though you haven’t lived life to the full, wasted youth and life holding nothing more can fill your mind.

The sufferer mustn’t feel bad about these thoughts as they are quite natural.Menopause depression is almost certain and more often than not, strikes during the perimenopause stage.Acknowleging that you can’t tackle this alone without help is a positive move.There are several treatment routes you can take when dealing with menopause depression, one route is to consult a medical professional.

Antidepressants are often prescribed by doctors in an attempt to supplement the shortfall in serotonin, the hormone responsible for moods.Hormone replacement therapy is a well known treatment for menopause depression as this aims to boost the decreasing estrogen levels.Lows in your moods can be attributed to sudden drops in the hormones progesterone, androgen and most of all estrogen, all of these have effects on the brains central area governing your moods.This is why estrogen tablets often have an uplifting effect on your outlook on life. 

 
Make sure you don’t suffer in silence, a problem shared is a problem halved, so discussing how you feel with someone close or a counsellor can be tremendously soothing. Reaching out and discussing feelings is sometimes all that’s needed to combat the effects of menopause depression.