Breathe
By Fernanda Padilla Rodríguez
Every day we are more informed about how the climacteric stage (which includes perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause) impacts mental health. This impact is not minor, and taking it into account is of utmost importance to address our overall health adequately in this transition process.
In Sin Reglas we are very conscious that in order to take control of our health in an integral way we need to understand ourselves as a totality that consists of several parts. We are the biological and the psychosocial, and as a Logotherapist I also add the spiritual.
Let's start with the biological, our mental health depends largely on our brain biochemistry, this biochemistry includes hormones. The hormonal fluctuations inherent to this stage can generate symptoms in both the body and the psyche. Mood swings and feelings of anxiety and sadness are common during the menopausal stages. Women during this transition are at greater risk of becoming depressed or experiencing anxiety. We do not want to pathologize our emotions, feelings and moods as human beings, but it is very important to identify when these, due to their intensity and frequency, become a health problem. It is not the same to be suddenly sad or angry than to present a depression, and it is not the same to be afraid or worried than to suffer from an anxiety disorder. It is of utmost importance to recognize when there is a disorder of this type in order to take control of our health in a timely and appropriate manner.
There is often a fear of diagnosis, as mental health has been stigmatized throughout history, and one of our great tasks at Sin Reglas is to help break down taboos and myths surrounding mental illness to facilitate timely diagnosis that favors appropriate treatment. We are convinced that there are as many treatment plans as there are women, because each one of us will go through this stage in a unique way, and our intention is to accompany you in identifying and accessing the best one for you.
The psychosocial part of this journey is full of challenges. Many of us are raising children teenagers or experiencing the empty nest when our adult children have already flown away, many of us are taking care of our sick parents or accompanying them in their own transition through old age; many others are also adapting to changes in the way we practice our profession or even important turns in the work area, others are dealing with issues with our partners, and something we all share is facing constant losses simply because they are part of life. Another key challenge of this stage is to readjust our scale of values and the way we live in congruence with them. Flowing with these changes is a fundamental part of our mental health, our ability to adapt and find meaning in each one is crucial to live this stage fully.
This is where our spiritual dimension comes in, I am not speaking of spirit in a religious tone, but of that uniquely human capacity to engage in a dialogue with ourselves and to be able to observe ourselves by taking a distance from ourselves. This power of self-observation helps us to know and understand ourselves. It also helps us to identify the symptoms present in our different areas and to take control over them. Accessing our spiritual part through our consciousness, this "I realize that I realize", allows us to choose who we want to be, it gives us the possibility to respond instead of reacting and, above all, it gives us the possibility to take a position in the face of what happens to us. We do not choose much of what is happening to us in this transition process, but we can choose the attitude with which we face it.
At Sin Reglas we are here to help you live this stage fully, freely and without rules.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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