"There is a need for psychological and behavioural interventions which can potentially mediate the reaction to menopause-related symptoms and increase resilience and coping skills."
~ Sunila Khandelwal
Professor, Dept. Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Senior consultant Fortis Escort Hospital, Jaipur (India) Executive Board Member, International Menopause Society
Our Purpose
When there is a gap in our healthcare system private practice health practitioners are in a unique position to try to fill that gap. An essential purpose of The Menopause Psychologist women’s midlife and menopause practice is to meet the need for psychological and behavioural interventions to mediate menopause-related symptoms and increase resilience and coping skills.
Fact Sheets
The Mission of the Australasian Menopause Society (AMS) is to improve the quality of life of women during and after menopause.
The AMS aims to advance knowledge about menopause. There are over 2 million post-menopausal women in Australia, constituting 40% of all healthcare visits in Australia. The need to understand the various problems of menopause and their management is a major issue to doctors, politicians, health care workers, and the community; particularly when it is realised that women are not only living longer, but their numbers are increasing at a disproportionate rate.
Menopause and mental health
- Women going through the menopausal transition are at a higher risk of mood changes and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Common physical, emotional and cognitive issues related to menopause can complicate and overlap with mental health symptoms.
- Stress related to life circumstances can also complicate understanding whether changes in mood and mental health are related to menopause.
- Having an open discussion about your symptoms, life circumstances and mental health history can assist your doctor in offering suitable treatment options and lifestyle changes.
- Therapies proven for the broader population are also suitable for mental health symptoms related to menopause – medication, psychological therapy and lifestyle change.
Find and Download the fact sheet here: https://www.menopause.org.au/images/stories/infosheets/docs/AMS_Menopause_and_mental_health-consumers.pdf
Research
The need for a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to women’s needs is emphasised by many leading menopause organisations. This includes psychological and behavioural interventions. Current research on menopause and mental health is being collated and shared here, so make sure to check back for more information.
Mindfulness as a menopausal treatment
There is evidence to suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can be effective in reducing psychological distress related to menopausal symptoms. Through mindfulness-based interventions women can learn to develop a different relationship with their symptoms, thus reducing psychological distress.
Through mindfulness training, women can learn to see the connection between their thoughts, emotions and body sensations (hot flushes) and develop self-compassion and a metacognitive stance, enabling them to respond more skilfully to their symptoms. Moreover, women would learn to be more accepting of their physical symptoms’ impermanent nature and manage and experience them more positively, thus further reducing distress.
The National Association for Menopause Studies recommends mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to manage vasomotor symptoms. However, further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of MBIs in managing menopausal symptoms.
Reference:
Wendy Molefi-Youri. Is there a role for mindfulness-based interventions (here defined as MBCT and MBSR) in facilitating optimal psychological adjustment in the menopause? Post Reproductive Health. 2019:0(0);1-7. DOI: 10.1177/2053369119835964
Midlife women often experience stress and menopausal symptoms. Research has indicated that mindfulness may help to mitigate stress by avoiding emotional reactivity and rumination. The authors sought to assess the association of mindfulness and stress on menopausal symptoms among midlife women.
The results showed that mindfulness was associated with reduced stress levels and fewer menopausal symptoms. Higher mindfulness and lower stress levels correlated with fewer menopausal symptoms in a study of 1744 middle-aged women. This correlation was more robust in women experiencing higher stress levels than women experiencing lower ones.
Reference:
Sood R, Kuhle CL, Kapoor JM, et al. Association of mindfulness and stress with menopausal symptoms in midlife women. Climacteric 2019.
The purpose of this large randomised controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction in reducing menopause-related symptoms when compared to an active control group, the menopause education control.
The results showed that both mindfulness-based stress reduction and menopause education (psychoeducation) in symptomatic peri-menopausal and post- menopausal women significantly reduced over time of the study period of 8 months (6 months post intervention).
However, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction showed a greater reduction of psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety above psychoeducation but similar reduction in somatic, urogenital and vasomotor symptoms.
Wong C, Yip BH, Gao T, et al. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or psychoeducation for the reduction of menopausal symptoms: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Scient Rep 2018; 8: 6609-018–24945-4.