5 Ways Changing Your Thoughts Can Help During Menopause

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When some people think of menopause, they think of it as a sudden stop point—and indeed, menopause itself is defined as the time in a woman’s life when she has not had a menstrual period for twelve months or longer. However, the lead-up to menopause tends to last for several years, and many women continue to experience symptoms post-menopausally. All of this means that a significant part of a woman’s life may be spent during the transition from pre-menopause to post-menopause.

Perimenopause is the lead-up to menopause and often starts for women during their early to mid-forties. During this time, levels of the hormones most closely tied to reproduction, estrogen and progesterone, begin to decline. The reduction in these hormones may lead to physical and emotional symptoms, including:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Mood swings
• Aches and pains
• Fatigues
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Sexual dysfunction
• Brain fog

Women don’t just experience a steady, gradual hormonal decline. Instead, there’s often a period of wildly fluctuating hormones, making it difficult to know what one day is going to feel like compared to the next. Added to the physical changes which women are going through, many women face huge responsibilities at this time in terms of career and family responsibilities.

Menopause, then, can be a tough time for many women. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is designed to replace the hormones that are declining. But while many women find HRT highly effective, some women cannot take HRT for medical reasons and some choose not to, often because of the potential risks and side effects of doing so.

The Role of Therapy in Menopause Treatment

When looking for alternative treatment options for menopause, therapy might not automatically come to mind. After all, menopause is a physical condition, right?

Yet therapy has been shown to help women cope with menopausal symptoms and improve their mood generally. We often think of the mind and body as being separate; but in fact, our thoughts and feelings impact our physical body all the time. For instance, when we’re anxious, we might notice our heart beating faster or a feeling of heat in our chest and face.

Research suggests that a woman’s experience of menopause is influenced by her previous emotional and physical health, social situation, experience of stressful life events and her beliefs about menopause.¹ Whether a woman views menopause in a positive or negative way is influenced by her personal, family, and sociocultural background and, in turn, influences how she experiences the menopausal transition.² Women who experience earlier or surgically induced menopause are more likely to experience psychiatric conditions.³

We know, therefore, that there is a clear link between how a woman views menopause and her life, cultural, and social experiences; how we think and view menopause and ourselves influences how we experience it. This opens up a real need for treatment options which can help identify the impact of our thoughts and attitudes and which can help women adopt more helpful thoughts and attitudes. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps us to identify the link between our thoughts, emotions and behaviours and has been shown to help women manage hot flashes, depression, sleep disturbances, and sexual concerns.⁴

In addition to seeking out therapeutic support, you can help yourself by taking the following steps:

1. Notice your thoughts.

Recognising that your thoughts are impacting your experience of menopause doesn’t take away from the fact that your menopausal experience may be very difficult for you. But it does give you back some control. What are you thinking during a hot flash, a moment of fatigue, or a sexual experience—and how might those thoughts be making things worse? Are you getting frustrated at yourself when you’re having a flash, for instance, or worried that people are noticing? This may actually be creating more anxiety and heat in your body.

2. Challenge your thoughts.

As humans, we all have some irrational thoughts which might go back to how we were raised or cultural ideas we have internalized. If you’ve identified a thought process which isn’t helpful, now’s the time to challenge it. How true is it? For instance, is everyone really judging you negatively for having a hot flash—or is it possible that most people aren’t even paying any attention?

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3. Create positive behavioural changes.

Menopause is a time of change and doing everything the same way you always have isn’t necessarily going to meet your changing needs. Menopause is a great time to start prioritizing your needs and looking after yourself. This might mean saying no more often, taking more time for yourself, pursuing a new interest or even cutting your hours at work.

4. Access support.

In addition to therapeutic support, if needed, you may find it helpful to connect with other women who are going through similar experiences. Although things like vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) are well understood, many women are not as aware of the extreme fatigue, general feeling of unwellness, and changes in mood which are a feature of menopause for so many. Connecting with other women who are going through the same experiences can help you cope in a more positive manner at this time.

5. See it as a time of potential.

It might be hard—especially when you haven’t slept, are sweating through a meeting, or wondering where the spring in your step has gone—to view menopause as a positive time. But despite the difficulties many women face, it's also possible for them to see menopause as a positive phase in their life. So many women embark on new careers or adopt new creative outlets. Realising that life isn’t finite can be a useful trigger to making the most of it. As our hormones change, so do our priorities—and making yourself your priority might just open you up to a whole new world.