How Menopause May Contribute to Depression
Hormonal Fluctuations
Most of the time, when people are talking about menopause or going through perimenopause the menstrual cycle becomes irregular, longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, infrequent or closer together.
The hormones that control menstrual cycle can also influence serotonin, a brain chemical that promotes feelings of well-being and happiness. When hormone levels drop, serotonin levels also fall, which contributes to increased irritability, anxiety and sadness. Further, reduction estrogen and progesterone levels can trigger mood change and impact daily coping skills.
The hormone imbalance and trigger depressive episode,particularly in those women with history of depression.
What is menopause-related depression?
Depression can leave you feeling sad, low mood, reduced interest in life, irritable, difficulty sleeping, reduced libido, and low self-esteem.
These are common symptoms of menopause depression:
• Disturbed sleep
• Changes in appetite
• Fatigue
• Agitation
• Poor concentration or indecisiveness
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Recurrent thoughts of mortality and death
The menopause symptoms can be misdiagnosed as depression because of the similarity of symptoms. For example: fatigue, sleep issues, weight change, poor concentration and low sex drive can be often be presented with menopause. Furthermore, it can easily be mistaken for clinical depression.
Despite clinical depression symptoms overlapping with the menopause, the depression sadness is often very intense in which feeling helpless, hopeless, and worthless can last for many days to weeks, keeping you from living your life.
Depression is not linked to any particular stage of the menopause. It can start early in the perimenopause, and so it’s essential to consider this if you notice changes within yourself or if others notice them in you.
What causes Menopause depression?
In the perimenopause and menopause, a mix of factors work together – physical changes as well as day to day stressors. It can be impossible to pull out any one factor as the cause of your low mood and symptoms of depression.
The direct effect of hormones
Hormones can impact mood related to depression:
• Many studies have shown that hormone changes have been linked with changes to mood and anxiety
• Oestrogen is linked to serotonin levels in the brain so that when oestrogen levels drop, so does serotonin
• There is evidence that oestrogen is also linked to cortisol levels – the hormone of stress, so that when oestrogen levels drop, cortisol levels rise.
Treating Menopause depression
If you’re having depressive symptoms that are affecting your life, it’s important to talk to a clinical psychologist to receive support and treat depression.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help you to manage and shift change the thoughts related to depressive thoughts unhelpful thinking habits. Furthermore, by applying CBT you can address specific issues such as anger and mood swings, insomnia, intrusive or overwhelming thoughts, or low self-esteem; and develop healthy strategies to problem solve and shift your mood during perimenopause and menopause.
As women, we often feel that we are the only ones who are struggling and that we should just get on with it but this is not always the case. The depressive symptoms related to menopause does not just go away. By working with a clinical psychologist you can learn to challenge unhealthy beliefs and learn healthy ways to manage feelings and emotions. This can lead to better coping mechanisms and greater levels of happiness and resilience.
There are numerous ways that CBT can aid in depression;
1. The ABC Analysis - This is where the behaviours that are related to the depression being experienced are broken down. This method can analyse the triggers and consequences of behaviour and can put new behaviours into play.
2. Cognitive Reconstructing - This is where unhealthy thought patterns and cognitive distortions are challenged and cognitive reconstructing is introduced to establish healthier thinking patterns and behaviour.
3. Fact-checking - Here thoughts and beliefs will be checked to establish their validity. Damaging or destructive thoughts will be challenged and these thoughts can be studied to see why they exist.
4. Thought Journaling - This is used to help a person identify potential triggers to their thoughts and behaviour and to aid coping strategies and self-awareness
5. Behavioural Activation - This is a great way to prepare yourself for completing activities that will motivate you and challenge you. Often when a person is suffering from depression they feel unmotivated and can’t cope with many activities in life. This technique helps the person to overcome these symptoms and be more proactive and positive.
What are the health benefits of Working with a Clinical Psychologist ?
Private clinical psychologists help patients develop self-awareness, which can lead to better coping skills and emotional management of depression . Private clinical psychologists provide patients with tools to manage depression, which can have a significant impact on their overall well-being.