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.

Extensive research however, has shown that the menopause is not a direct cause of depression. Depression at the time of menopause can be coincidental and be a result from many different factors. Purely from a physical aspect, the body is going through huge changes due to irregular fluctuations in hormone levels that on their own merits can lead to an overwhelming sense of despair. As estrogen levels deplete you can find that you lack the energies you once had.You become consumed by fatigue that you just can’t seem to shake.   

The mind also feels this tiredness. Some women find that menopause is nothing to be stressed about at all and glide through it quite unaffected whilst others find the acceptance of infertility and their waning youth a far more challenging concept. 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. Haunting thoughts of whether you’ve fulfilled what you’ve wanted in your life along with thoughts that life has no more to offer are apparent.

It’s perfectly natural to be feeling a sense of loss at this time. Menopause depression is almost certain and more often than not, strikes during the perimenopause stage. Diagnosing these intermittent feelings of doom and gloom can be hard to do but the first step to feeling well again is the acceptance that it’s fine to feel like this and that getting the right help is not a sign of weakness. One of the ways to get over menopause depression is to seek traditional medical help.

Antidepressants are often prescribed by doctors in an attempt to supplement the shortfall in serotonin, the hormone responsible for moods. Hormone replacement therapy is a well known treatment for menopause depression as this aims to boost the decreasing estrogen levels. Estrogen amongst other hormones can have adverse effects on the part of your brain that’s in charge of your moods. This is the main reason why supplementing your body with estrogen, which can be taken orally, can result in a refreshing effect on your moods and happiness.

 
If you’re going through this now, make sure you talk to someone about how you’re feeling, just talking can ease pressure and uplift your general emotions, it’s also good for others to understand how you’re feeling so that they can offer support. Reaching out and discussing feelings is sometimes all that’s needed to combat the effects of menopause depression.