Depression

As with most of the emotional symptoms women may experience during menopause, depression can be caused by the fluctuating hormones in our body that impact how our brains function and how we feel. Before we get into the details of how those pesky hormones impact us, it’s important to remember that not all depression is caused by menopausal changes. If you are concerned about yourself, or a loved one, please speak to your healthcare provider as soon as possible.

So what is happening with our hormones and why can this make us feel depressed? If you’ve already read about anxiety or mood swings and irritability on our Symptoms Pages, you will be familiar with the hormones that can influence how we feel. These include:

• Oestrogen and Serotonin: these twins have a pretty close relationship. Serotonin (our happy hormone) is impacted by changes to oestrogen levels. When our oestrogen levels fluctuate and start to drop during the menopause transition, this can impact how serotonin works in our brains, and thus impact our mood.
• Progesterone and GABA: Progesterone (sometimes called the calming hormone) levels also fluctuate during menopause. This hormone has an impact on how the neurotransmitter GABA works in our brains. When there’s less progesterone in our brains, GABA is less effective – which can lead to low mood, increased anxiety and poor sleep.

On top of the hormone changes, there are any number of external factors that could contribute to depression. Things like career pressures, family pressures, social or financial pressures, and even the stress of experiencing other menopause-related symptoms… these can all make depression worse. So its important to think about depression holistically and understand all of the things that could be impacting your mood. This is also important when thinking about what you can do to deal with depression – it might require a combination of things to get your mojo back.

Here are a couple of things that you can do to help alleviate the symptoms of depression during menopause.

• Deal with the stressors in your life: It might seem like a ridiculous thing to say when there are so many competing challenges and stressors in life today, but managing these external factors can go a long way to improving your mood and helping you to cope with the effects of hormones on your mood. Meditation, journalling, making small (or big) adjustments to the things that are causing you stress. These are just some of the ways to create a bit of breathing room for yourself.
• Talk to someone: Start by talking to your loved ones and explain to them how you are feeling, and tell them what they can do to support you better. And if needed, talk to a professional therapist, counsellor or coach. We know that there may be stigmas or cultural barriers to seeking professional help for mental health, but those are exactly the things we want to change at Daliah! Seeking help is the first step in getting back to good mental health and a better quality of life overall.
• Get moving: As much as you may be tempted to rather curl up in a ball on the couch or in bed, exercise is a wonderful and natural way to boost your mood. It can help prevent depression, and improve the symptoms when you are feeling depressed. And the bonus is that exercise can help with many other menopause-related symptoms too! In South Africa, we have wonderful weather – so why not try doing something outdoors? Fresh air and nature are both wonderful healers.
• Go slow on the booze: While it may seem like a glass of wine is all you want at the end of a long day when you are left feeling down, you won’t feel that way in the morning. Alcohol can actually make depression worse, because it lowers the levels of serotonin in our brains (that feel good hormone we spoke about earlier), disrupts our sleep, and leaves you with an even lower mood. None of this will help in the long run. So its best to reduce your alcohol intake – or eliminate if you can – to give you the best chance of dealing with depression in a healthy and constructive way. You will thank us in the morning!
• Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Consider talking to your doctor to find out if HRT is suitable for you. HRT isn’t for everyone, and there are ways to manage your menopause related symptoms through lifestyle adjustments, taking quality supplements and wellness therapies. But if you find your symptoms are having a severe impact on your quality of life, relationships or work, HRT may help you – even if just for a short while.

Follow Daliah on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter for more useful more tips and hear stories from our Daliah community members about how they manage their menopause symptoms.

Disclaimer: This information is for general educational purposes, and should not be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of any health condition or problem.