Breaking The Menopause Stigma: How To Help Yourself And Others Embrace This New Phase Of Life

The Tea

Menopause signifies the end of your menstrual cycle. It’s diagnosed after you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual period. It may come with a bunch of symptoms such as night sweats, hot flashes, irritability, mood swings, etc. During this time, women may struggle with work-life balance. She might be anticipating the assistance of her family and colleagues during this time. She may think in this difficult period of life, someone understands her situation.

A recent study carried out at Forth into menopause in the workplace, found that:

63% of women said their working life had been negatively affected in some way by their symptoms
29% had significantly lost self-confidence
Only 6% of the whole sample group said that they did not experience any menopause symptoms at work

The Brew

Why Is Menopause Still A Taboo

Many women feel ashamed or uncomfortable talking about menopause. Due to a variety of reasons such as in many cultures, discussing topics related to reproductive health is considered inappropriate.
Some women think that if I share this thing with others then, people will question their femininity. Because of the perception that women should always be youthful and fertile. (3)
Some women are not educated about menopause. She does not have any idea about what menopause is. Thus, she thinks it’s a normal fever and forgets that. I think some people would be surprised to know that many women in their early to mid-40s are still thinking about completing families. And certainly, most aren’t even thinking about the possibility of menopause at that age,” explained Dr Foran.

How to Help Ourselves And Others

1. How To Develop a New Menopause Self-Care Plan

When your menopause starts, you should increase your intake of antioxidant-rich foods such as spinach, broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, berries, and cherries.

Avoid spicy food, alcohol consumption, and fatty foods like cookies and fried foods. Because it has the potential to increase the experience of hot flashes.

When women are younger, estrogen protects the heart, but after menopause, the risk for heart disease significantly increases, says OB-GYN Tara Scott. So add heart-pumping exercises like running, swimming, and biking to your routine. Also, add yoga to your routine, it can help lower your blood pressure during menopause. Yoga can also improve your sleep.

2. Talk to your doctor

Even if you are aware of menopause, it’s still important to consult with your doctor. You might be aware of hot flashes, and night sweats, but not the way menopause affects your heart and bone health. Yes, you heard it right. Menopause may disrupt cholesterol levels and cause osteoporosis. So, it is advisable to talk with a doctor.

3. Organise a campaign for awareness of menopause

An educated woman will have the ability to embrace herself but what about women living in rural areas? For them, we should take charge of introducing them to their new phase of life. This type of campaign for menopause awareness can help women a lot. It will also kill the stigma around menopause. People will start talking about menopause openly. Because, the less alone women feel, the better their menopause experience will be.

The Pour

When it comes to women’s health society doesn’t consider it properly. Whether it’s pain of period, pain of labor, or pain of menopause. They think now you are aged and this happens forget it and move on. They also think it’s a privet thing and should not be discussed openly. This can only happen if women are not allowed to speak in their own homes. A study done in China said Menopausal women are regarded as “abnormal people” in China and are often discriminated against and ostracized, especially in the privacy of their homes. (4) So, it’s important for women to take charge of embracing themselves during menopause.