In surveys of women seeking medical help at and around menopause, about one woman in four reports psychological symptoms including poor concentration, faulty memory, loss of confidence, uncharacteristic sadness and difficulty making decisions. There has been speculation that lowered oestrogen levels are the cause of such symptoms by a direct effect on the output of chemicals involved in message transmission in the brain (called neurotransmitters). It is difficult to separate the effects of hormones from other factors that may influence psychological symptoms, such as stress at home or work, lifestyle modifications to do with diet and exercise, and major life changes.
Supporting the impression that this disquiet among women is not simply a matter of hormone levels, the Melbourne {Women’s Midlife Health Study found no apparent association between mental wellbeing and whether women were still having regular periods or had reached menopause. The differences in the findings of various studies may relate to the groups being studied: women who attend medical practitioners for help may well be more psychologically stressed than random samples of middle-aged women. In the Melbourne study, involving 2000 randomly selected women aged forty-five to fifty-five, those who felt mentally well were more likely to have low levels of stress in their lives, a positive attitude to ageing and to menopause, to exercise vigorously, to live with a partner, to be in good general health and to be a non-smoker. Women should first consider whatever non-medical steps they can take to reduce day-to-day stress. A daily walk, a regular game of tennis or an aerobics class might do the trick.
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