How Menopause and Depression Are Connected

There is no doubt that menopause and depression are closely linked. In fact depression is one of the key symptoms of menopause – not to mention pre menopause. It has even been clinically and scientifically proven that women are more likely to suffer from depression as they approach menopause. There is also clinical evidence suggesting that the proclivity for depression in menopausal women is very closely linked to the hormonal changes in the body during those years.

You have to understand that, as women, we go into this already being at a higher risk for depression than men. Nearly twice as many women suffer from depression than men. There are a number of reasons it occurs so often during our menopausal years. For one thing, we are reaching the mid point of our lives. We know that menopause is approaching – we know it even before we begin going through pre menopause. We know that the inability to menstruate or to have any more children comes with that point in our lives. We know that we are reaching middle age. Was there ever a more dreaded, age related phrase in the entire English language? Those are hard blows, especially the fact that we will no longer conceive. It may be archaic, it may even be considered sexist, but the need to bear children is bred into a woman's genes. Some of us feel that maternal urge and instinct more than others. Some women legitimately do not want to have children. All the same, when we realize that we are reaching a point where we cannot have children even if we want to, it affects us. All of these factors combined can easily drive a large number of woman to depression.

Some people do not take this serious. Naturally, they are people who either will never go through menopause (i.e., men), or younger women who still believe in their hearts that aging and menopause will never happen to them. They think you are just sad, that you need to snap out of it, and other such nonsense. Because it is nonsense. Menopausal depression is a serious matter. It needs to be taken seriously and treated seriously.

However, as stated, depression during these stages of our lives are also related to our hormones. If they are not the primary cause, they are at least a contributing factor and catalyst. Hormonal imbalances can and do cause depression after all. This might be a slightly strange way to put it, but in many aspects, menopause is one big hormonal imbalance.

Think back to your teenage years, before you had your first period. In the time leading up to that point, your body started to produce estrogen in earnest – creating hormonal imbalances. You were up, you were down. You were happy one minute, despairing the next. Every feeling was more sensitive, everything was a big dramatic deal. As you go through menopause, your body stops producing estrogen. Thus, the affects are similar to what you experienced during puberty – multiplied by about one hundred.

Furthermore, a lot of the symptoms of depression, in and of itself, are identical to other symptoms of menopause. When the two begin to combine, the results can be horrendous. You should never, ever take these feelings lightly or let them go untreated. Trust, your feelings are legitimated, there are people who understand and acknowledge that, and there are methods to help you.