Four tips for battling menopause-induced depression

During menopause, your levels of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone drop, and that can impact levels of other hormones, like serotonin. Your moods may change frequently, or feel more extreme than usual, leading to feelings of anger, sadness, or anxiety. In some women, the changes may be more significant, leading to a major depressive episode. This is especially true if you’ve struggled with depression or other serious mental health issues in the past.

That’s not all. The transitions associated with menopause can trigger difficult emotions regardless of your hormones. Adapting to this major life stage change can be challenging for many women, especially in a society that so deeply values youth. Plus, stress, hot flashes, UTIs, and other symptoms can contribute to insomnia, which significantly increases your risk of becoming depressed.

To sum it up, there are a lot of reasons that going through perimenopause and menopause can lead to symptoms of depression. Especially if you have a history of mental health conditions, it’s important to stay on top of signs before they become more serious. Fortunately, there are many options available, from simple at-home solutions to full-on treatment. Here’s how to cope, whether you’re looking for a diagnosis, or just need help managing some new, big feelings.

Manage your physical symptoms

Sometimes, depression can develop as a consequence of physical ailments in the body. For example, perimenopause symptoms like hot flashes and UTIs can make you more irritable, or cause difficulty sleeping. Over time, frustration and ongoing insomnia can cause your overall mood to decline significantly. You might develop depression, or slip back into depression if you’ve struggled with mental health issues in the past.

To ward off depression symptoms, make sure you’re treating physical ailments that could be impacting your quality of life. For instance, try a UTI supplement for recurring UTIs, and HRT to ease hot flashes, improve sleep quality, and tackle other symptoms. Seek specialised treatment if menopause is affecting your sex life, causing pain, discomfort, or a decreased libido. Problems with intimacy can impact your self-esteem and satisfaction, and trigger symptoms of depression.

See a psychologist

A licensed therapist or support group can help you manage the many difficult feelings associated with this difficult, transitional time. They can help you manage stress, anxiety, irritability, sadness, and other mood changes brought about by menopause. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common and effective modalities for treating menopause-related depression. It can help you reframe negative thoughts and learn coping skills for managing depression symptoms.

If appropriate, a licensed therapist can also refer you to someone who can prescribe psychiatric medication. In certain cases, it may be appropriate to go on antidepressants such as SSRIs or SNRIs, like paroxetine mesylate or venlafaxine. In addition to helping relieve symptoms of depression, some of these medications may also relieve pain and hot flashes. Sometimes, these medications are prescribed to women going through menopause even if they aren’t depressed.

Try stress management techniques

For some people, mindful practices like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises can help. While they may not “cure” depression, they can help stabilise your mood, reduce anxiety, and lessen the risk factors for depression. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress levels by reducing reactivity of the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex. These two brain areas work in tandem to react to stress and anxiety and cause a spike in cortisol levels.

To experiment with stress management techniques, choose a practice you enjoy, rather than forcing yourself to do something that feels like a chore. Try a gentle, candlelit yoga class, a guided visualisation meditation on YouTube, or simply spending time in nature. One simple relaxation meditation you can try at home is called a body scan. To do a body scan, you lie down or get in a comfortable position, and slowly relax each group of muscles one by one.

Stay healthy, active and social

You’re probably sick of being told to eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep in order to help manage your symptoms. But it’s the truth: your diet and activity levels can have a major impact on your mood. Recent research shows that physical activity is up to 1.5 times more effective than medication at controlling symptoms of depression. It’s well-established that heavily plant-based eating patterns like the Mediterranean diet can lower the risk of depressive symptoms.

When you’re suffering from hot flashes, and generally not feeling like your best self, it can be hard to make and keep social plans. However, one of the best things you can do for your mental health is make sure you have plenty of social support. If you don’t have enough people to talk to, join a sports team, hobby group, or even a meetup group for menopausal women. Look for support, especially from warm, optimistic people who can help you build resilience.

You might not just be sad

With so much brain and body chemistry in flux, it’s a wonder menopause doesn’t cause even higher instances of depression. Big changes in hormones, complicated feelings about aging, and physical symptoms are just some of the potential triggers. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to brush off troublesome symptoms as just sadness about this major life change. Remember, it’s crucial to take depression symptoms seriously, and get help before they become unmanageable.

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