Anxiety is a common symptom during menopause, often arising from hormonal fluctuations as estrogen levels decline. For many women, menopause-related anxiety does tend to improve over time, while some may experience longer-lasting symptoms. There are various self-care strategies and medical treatments that can help to manage anxiety and ease this transition.
During perimenopause and menopause, declining estrogen levels can trigger changes in brain chemistry that make some women more prone to anxiety. Fluctuating hormones can also disrupt sleep, cause hot flashes, heart palpitations, and other physical symptoms that may provoke or worsen anxiety.
Some key points:
- For around 60% of women, anxiety caused by menopause and hormonal changes tends to subside within a few years after their final menstrual period. However, some women may deal with anxiety symptoms for a longer period.
- Making positive lifestyle changes like eating a nutritious diet, exercising regularly, practicing stress management, and getting enough sleep can help minimize anxiety. Avoiding triggers like caffeine, alcohol, and smoking is also beneficial.
- Therapy, medications, and hormone therapy can safely and effectively treat anxiety for women who need more support.
- Getting your hormone levels tested can provide helpful insight. Sometimes hormonal imbalances—like low progesterone along with low estrogen—can worsen mood issues.
- Being patient with yourself and communicating with loved ones during this transitional time makes a big difference.
Strategies to Manage Menopausal Anxiety
Here are some helpful strategies to manage anxiety during the menopausal transition and beyond:
- Relaxation techniques: Daily relaxation practices like yoga, deep breathing, meditation, or massage therapy stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system to induce calmness.
- Adequate sleep: Getting at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night helps stabilize mood and manage anxiety symptoms.
- Regular exercise: Aerobic exercise and strength training helps relieve tension, boost feel-good endorphins, and tire out the body in a healthy way.
- Talk therapy: Speaking with a therapist provides support, helps identify triggers, and teaches coping strategies tailored to your needs.
- Support groups: Connecting with other women going through menopause makes you feel less alone. In-person and online groups are available.
- Healthy lifestyle: Eating a nutritious whole foods diet, staying hydrated, taking supplements if needed, and avoiding caffeine, alcohol, smoking, and drugs promotes overall wellbeing.
- Hormone therapy: Systemic estrogen-based hormone therapy or low-dose vaginal estrogen can stabilize hormones and often improves mood. Discuss options with your healthcare provider.
- Medications: SSRIs, SNRIs, benzodiazepines and other psychiatric medications are sometimes prescribed short-term or long-term for significant anxiety symptoms.
If you're dealing with anxiety around menopause, know that you don't have to tough it out alone. Help is available in many forms, whether it's lifestyle changes, therapy, hormone balancing, or medication. Be compassionate with yourself during this transition—with the right support, this too shall pass!
