Over the past few years, I’ve started to notice an increase in mentions of menopause and perimenopause on my social media feeds. It makes sense: I’m a woman of a certain age. But what bothers me most about all of these articles and posts is how little I know about menopause, even after reading them.
Growing up, all things associated with female hormones were pretty much off the table as topics of discussion. My friends complained every time a vintage merchandise commercial came on the TV (back when we still had commercials and didn’t just stream everything). And my mom told me little to nothing about what to expect when it came to getting my period. I learned most of what I needed to know from Seventeen magazine and Judy Blume’s book “Are You There, God?” It’s me, Margaret.” So I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise that, while talking about periods has become more common, we haven’t caught up when we talk about menopause.
It was only a few years ago that I learned that perimenopause existed, let alone something I might experience soon. After talking to a friend about some of the problems I’ve had with my ADHD lately and how I learned that low estrogen levels can affect it, she mentioned that she had recently started using an estrogen patch. I had a doctor’s appointment coming up, so I thought I would talk to my doctor about it then.
When I mentioned to my doctor that I was wondering if I might be in the beginning stages of perimenopause, she informed me that I was too young to worry about it yet. When I had a follow-up appointment three months later, she asked me if I was experiencing any symptoms of perimenopause, since I was about the right age for it. Even my doctor doesn’t seem to have a solid handle on all of this. And while we can easily dismiss a doctor’s ignorance or malpractice, I find that conversations like these are much more the norm when I talk to my friends than the exception.
This is one of the main reasons why I so appreciate the new perimenopause/menopause resource Mental Health America has created. Not only does it have some interesting basic facts, but it also contains information about how menopause affects mood disorders and hormones. And this resource is not just for those of us whose birth sex and gender identity are female/female, but for anyone who may experience menopause, which we know is a broader population.
One of the other reasons I appreciate MHA publishing this resource is that it’s time we start learning and talking more about menopause. It affects 2 million people in the United States each year. We need to stop being ashamed and afraid of the body changes of people with ovaries and instead make sure they have the information they need to navigate those changes in the healthiest way possible.
Kristen Abell is director of websites and digital projects, writerand advocate for mental health and neurodivergence.
