How Menopause Depression Can Affect You
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. As with any other kind of depression, the one experienced during menopause is no less aggressive and often causes the sufferer to feel intense feelings of loneliness, abandonment, helplessness and lack of energy with life in general. The worrying aspect of this type of depression ia that there is no guarantee it will end after the menopause is over.
It’s been found that menopause is not a cause of depression in itself. Depression at the time of menopause can be coincidental and be a result from many different factors.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.As estrogen levels deplete you can find that you lack the energies you once had.Your body takes on a new form of tiredness that a good nights sleep can no longer shift.
Your mind also goes through these symptoms 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.
It’s not unusual to feel this way.Menopause depression is very common indeed and is most likely to occur in the perimenopausal phase.Pinpointing the reasons for these emotional lows can be complex but the first road to recovery is that of acceptance that you need some help to get back on track.A choice for treating menopause depression would be to get help from a doctor.
Doctors can prescribe prescription strength antidepressants as part of the treatment, these are basically mood enhancing drugs.Some doctors will prescribe antidepressants in order to artificially boost your moods by increasing serotonin which is the hormone in charge of your moods.Hormone replacement therapy is a well known treatment for menopause depression as this aims to boost the decreasing estrogen levels.When the levels of certain hormones, especially estrogen, drops suddenly, this in turn can effect the part of the brain that’s responsible for your moods.Estrogen can easily be taken in tablet form to counteract the low moods and give a feeling of euphoria.
It’s important not to be silent about your feelings as this in itself can feed the negative emotions, talking to a close friend, partner or a counsellor can help to lift the heavy weight that your low moods can have on you. Being open about your emotions is sometimes all you need to overcome menopause depression.