The Myth of Anxiety Amidst Menopausal Mayhem
It is common for high functioning, dynamic non stop women to be running on chronic anxiety in the background – ignoring it, denying it is there, and appearing to cope day to day… only for you to have to confront it head on, when anxiety deepens during the early stages of menopause.
It’s a common misconception that the menopause creates anxiety.
Actually, this isn’t true. It is simply exacerbating an imbalance that is already there.
The better women learn to effectively manage and process emotion throughout their life at any age, to maintain a healthy physiological and psychological balance, the less likely they will be to experience anxiety during the menopause.
It is also really common for healthy teenage girls to develop anxiety, again due to hormonal fluctuations and the struggles of developing an identity, steering their way through first relationships and getting along with and fitting in with their peers.
Some women feel their anxiety symptoms are inherited by way of their genetic blueprint.
Most likely is that a woman has experienced some degree of childhood trauma, or that the tendency towards being anxious is a learned behaviour rather than genetics.
The longer anxiety runs in the background, the more sensitive and reactive the stress centre within the brain becomes. Everyday triggers of anxiety become more widespread over time, so you’ll find that the slightest thing can set off an anxiety attack.
Best Practice for Coping with Anxiety in Menopause
Women feel so deeply. The key is to allow these feelings to empower you. The next time you feel over-emotional, I want you to think of that emotion as nutrition for your soul. Feed yourself on your emotion… breathe into your feelings. Give yourself permission to feel and allow yourself to be nourished.
For me personally it was only when I began to truly own my feelings that anxiety in my life began to ease and my perception of my power began to grow.
As a woman, you need to give yourself permission not to be hurried through your emotion, nor accept being told to ‘Pull yourself together’ or to ‘Just get on with it’. Don’t tolerate being subject to popular phrases such as ‘What’s the matter with you now’ or ‘Take a look at yourself’ or ‘Sort yourself out!’ or my all-time favourite ‘What’s wrong with you?!’
Worrying, feeling afraid, feeling unsure socially and professionally is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of human fallibility.
You. Are. Human.
It is not something to be ashamed of or embarrassed by.
Take steps towards living a life that feels true to you and learn to accept yourself more. When you heal beyond your past emotional trauma and wounding, you ease the ‘pressure cooker’ of mounting physiological and emotional stress during menopause.
Seek out the right support to allow yourself to be ‘held’ and feel heard as you process any emotional imbalance that got created earlier in your life - which for your health and wellbeing, really does need to be addressed in the present time.
Learn to empower yourself through menopause and you’ll be stronger emotionally, spiritually and physically, and ready to embrace wholeheartedly this exciting next life stage.
I hope this helps.
If you’d like a conversation to discuss some psycho-dynamic mentoring support either privately or through your organisation, you can book a call at a convenient time for you here.
Warmly,
Lisa x
Lisa Skeffington is a multi-award-winning consultant psychotherapist and self-esteem expert. She is the Founder of the Empowered Momentum Community, an exclusive membership for ambitious midlife women, and her latest book, ‘From Anxious to Empowered’, is out now.