this talk: is about mental health and the menopausal woman - with Dr Gill Barham
“Have you had any thoughts of harming yourself Gill?”
On November 1st 2012 you will find me sitting in a dingy office opposite a petite lady with cropped grey hair and wearing a dark blue uniform, looking over her spectacles at me.
“No Dawn, but I feel so awful. I can’t sleep, think or function it seems. Everything is getting on top of me, I think I’m going bonkers. You know me, with my job and family and all the rest of it, I am usually on top of everything. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
The diagnosis was depression. I was offered medication which I refused and some counselling, which I accepted.
I couldn’t believe this had happened to me. You see I was practically superwoman!! Juggling all the balls in the air and making sure everyone in the family was OK whilst supporting my husband who had started his own business after the sudden shock of being made redundant.
I identified that the main source of depression must be workplace stress. We were experiencing a reorganisation process; some terrible leadership (Miss Management as we called her) and I was using loads of emotional energy in support of my younger colleagues who needed their jobs more than I.
So just a few days later I resigned from my post.
I was 51 years old, and guess what? This is the average age for women to experience the menopause. In fact, it is also the most common time in a woman’s career for her to leave her job.
Looking back, I presented as a typical picture of a woman having gone through several months, or years in my case, of peri-menopausal symptoms struggling to cope with the fluctuations in hormone levels. Despite being a Nutritional Therapist and a former nurse, I didn’t connect my physical and emotional ill-health to the menopause.
Now, eight years on and working largely with women from 40 – 65, I am in no doubt that my diagnosis in terms of my mental health was correct, however the cause was not identified or even considered.
The most common mental-health issues for menopausal women are anxiety, depression, lack of self-esteem, panic attacks, brain fog, poor concentration and overwhelm. And I haven’t even mentioned “Empty Nest Syndrome” (next time perhaps).
Previously, our grandmothers were prescribed Valium. Nowadays, there are less addictive drugs available but there is still not enough consideration that a woman presenting with mental health issues is likely to be suffering with a lack of oestrogen.
I fought against taking HRT for many years until I realised that it was safer for me to replace what is lost, than add a medication as a sticking plaster to mask my symptoms. The scare stories about HRT from 2005 still influence women like me and the medical profession for that matter, who are not paying attention to the NICE guidelines on new and body-identical forms of low dose oestrogen and progesterone and their positive effect on supporting mental health in menopausal women who can take it safely.
Recently, at one of my talks, over 50% of the women present were taking anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication but had not been offered advice on nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, HRT or alternative remedies for the menopause.
Further Reading:
About Dr Gill Barham:
Dr. Gill Barham is an international award winning speaker, speaker trainer, confidence coach, author, broadcast presenter, Pilates teacher, nutritional expert and menopause expert. Combining her experience in the conventional healthcare field with lifestyle and functional medicine, Dr. Gill’s interventions align with her ideal of building health rather than treating symptoms.
Dr. Gill Barham studied music as her first degree before qualifying as a Registered General Nurse (RGN) in the UK. She has been studying functional medicine for the past 8 years and her transformational work has been recognised with a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the AUGP (Academy of Universal Global Peace) A Peace Award from the UPF (Universal Peace Federation) and she is a member of the ATL (Association of Transformational Leaders) Europe and the WAoFP (Worldwide Association of Female Professionals)
Connect with Dr Gill Barham here:
www.drgillbarham.com
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