Confused by irrational emotions, women understandably wondered ‘what’s happening to me?’.

One woman found herself ‘crying over things’ which wouldn’t have bothered her before another felt disconnected from her emotional self, as if she were ‘floating and watching’ herself shouting. They used phrases like ‘this isn’t me’, ‘I’m not the way I’d normally be’, ‘it’s not like me’, ‘normally I’m quite a sensible person’ to describe this new, changed identity. Some felt uncharacteristically depressed and even subdued. Women’s personalities changed as emotions threatened their sense of balance and well-being. It’s not abnormal, you’re not mad, you’re not stupid, you’re just going through a stage of your life and you’re not the only one. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown until I found the website and I read the forum and I thought Jesus there’s hundreds of women like me, I’m not going bonkers, I’m not going mad, this is quite normal. I think you start to think what the hell’s wrong with me, have I got some disease that, the big C, what is making me like this, am I depressed, am I going to have a nervous breakdown. I’d be out in the kitchen thinking I’ve opened the drawer, yes, what am I getting, other times I could do two or three things at once but this was just getting me down. I thought I was slightly depressed, then the hot flushes started and they’d been going on for about 3 or 4 months, mainly during the day, not any at night at the time, but then I found I couldn’t concentrate on things, I had no co-ordination, I couldn’t do two things at once. This went on for about another four months towards the end of 2006 and everything got on top of me. One woman was so irritable that she ‘just wanted to have a row with someone’ another thought she was snappy because she was tired.īy the end of the following summer I’d started to notice that I was getting, I wouldn’t say depressed but I was getting quite weepy, I was having trouble concentrating on work.Īnd I found I just couldn’t cope with things and I started getting a bit tearful.

Women were ‘like a bear with a sore head’, ‘getting very ratty’, or ‘flying off the handle’ at the slightest thing. Others, however, talked about losing control as symptoms such as mood swings, depression, worsening premenstrual tension (PMT), anxiety, panic attacks, anger, snappiness, short temper, irritation, crying and impatience took over their lives. I’ve said the only thing really on my list was hot flushes and if I could have not had those I’d have said well, I sailed through the menopause. People have panic attacks and anxiety and I don’t really think that I had any of that. I think I got off light with a lot of other symptoms. I didn’t feel, I didn’t have tearful times. Mood swings but then I’m not sure I’ve always been a little bit had a short fuse so it’s difficult to tell whether it’s just me as a normal short fused person or whether I was. Some women talk about mood swings and anxiety and loss of confidence. Menopause Emotions and the menopause: mood swings, anxiety and depression

Sources of information about the menopause.

Advice to other women about the menopause.

Advice to health professionals about the menopause.

Consulting the doctor about the menopause.

Relationships with health professionals.

Changes in the body and keeping healthy.

Relationships, sex and contraception and the menopause.

Family, health and life events and the menopause.

Complementary therapies for menopausal symptoms.

Emotions and the menopause: mood swings, anxiety and depression.

Memory, concentration and the menopause.

Libido, vaginal dryness and urinary problems and the menopause.

Menopause moods and emotions