Menopause depression: Under recognized and poorly treated, 2024, Jayashri Kulkarni et al

Abstract
Menopause is a biological process experienced by all people assigned female at birth. A significant number of women experience mental ill health related to the major brain gonadal hormone shifts that occur in their midlife. There is poor understanding and management of the complex mental ill health issues, with the biological brain hormone changes receiving little formal attention.

The current treatment advice is to manage this special type of mental ill health in the same way that all mental ill health is managed. This leads to poor outcomes for women and their families.

Many women leave the workforce earlier than expected due to menopause-related depression and anxiety, with subsequent loss of salary and superannuation. Others describe being unable to adequately parent or maintain meaningful relationships – all ending in a poor quality of life.

We are a large and diverse group of national and international clinicians, lived experience and social community advocates, all working together to innovate the current approaches available for women with menopausal mental ill health. Above all, true innovation is only possible when the woman with lived experience of menopause is front and center of this debate.

LINK

 

Menopausal depression is different to other depressions. The key mental health symptoms include anxiety and panic, rage, exhaustion, sleep disturbance, decreased libido, poor concentration, poor memory, and tearfulness. Physical symptoms such as muscle aches, joint pains, cystitis, palpitations, painful sex, and headaches are also common. Symptoms can fluctuate in intensity or even disappear and then return days or weeks later. This fluctuation can be very challenging for women and can make an accurate diagnosis of menopausal depression difficult. To add to the diagnostic difficulty, there are no specific, objective tests for menopausal mental ill health.

Too frequently, menopausal women are offered or prescribed antidepressants for their menopause depression or mental health symptoms which have no evidence to support their use. These women are not prescribed hormones which are likely to improve symptoms as they are treating the underlying cause. This can lead to poor outcomes for menopausal women and their families.

LINK