Menopause can have a huge effect on your mind as well as your body.
Shifts in the levels of female hormones can cause temporary mood changes, including symptoms of depression.The years leading up to menopause and the transition itself can bring changes to your body. But they can also have an effect on your mind, specifically your mental health.
The incidence of depression doubles during this time. Women who have struggled in the past with depression or anxiety might also see a resurgence in symptoms. Shifts in the levels of female hormones can cause mood changes at other stages of life, so it's not necessarily surprising that they can have some effect on mood during the menopausal transition as well, says Dr. Hadine Joffe, the Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Women's Health at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The vast majority of women who develop significant mood issues during perimenopause have had them in the past. It's relatively rare for someone with no history of depression or anxiety to suddenly develop a severe case of it at menopause, says Dr. Joffe.
But this apparent connection may reflect the difficulty distinguishing between panic attacks and a common menopausal symptom, hot flashes. These can be similar, says Dr. Joffe. During a panic attack, your heart may race and you may feel sweaty and hot. The same is true of hot flashes. Before a hot flash, some women experience an"aura," which is term doctors use to describe a sensation preceding a brain condition .
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