I just wanted to share an article I just found. I can’t share it as a link but it’s a journal paper and it’s called Severe Mental Illness and the Perimenopause by Sophie Behrman and Clair Crockett published online by Cambridge University Press. While it’s probably directed at clinicians I thought it may be helpful for anyone else out there struggling with major mental health impacts from perimenopause. It provides a concise summary of relevant issues including how the brain is affected by hormonal changes.
I’ve had a severe collapse again into anxiety on Wednesday and today it’s severe depression. I know it’s hormonal so searching desperately for help at the moment. I’ve restarted hormone medication despite the side effects I had before to try to regain some balance.
The above article to me is very important as current approaches to women’s mental health often do not properly consider perimenopause. Where severe mental health symptoms present, some of the medications used can actually exacerbate mental health symptoms due to perimenopause rather than help them. The whole picture needs to be seen, not one thing treated in an isolated way. I feel it’s so important for anyone impacted by perimenopausal symptoms that impact mental health to have access to this information.
At times I feel I am losing my mind and almost with the symptoms of psychosis, but what I read is the medications that are routinely prescribed for those kinds of symptoms may not be the best first line approach when the underlying cause is hormonal. I have this feeling of just hanging onto my sanity and I’m really hoping the hormone medication will help me. I will try booking again with the hormone specialist doctor I’ve seen previously.
I know how lonely and isolating these experiences of collapsed mental heath in perimenopause can be, so just want to share anything that may help others.
