May 2023
This week every £1 donated to The Menopause Charity will be matched through the Big Give campaign; One donation Twice the impact.
With your support today we can help more people understand the impact menopause can have on mental health, and provide them with the information and support to help manage their symptoms.
From 15th – 22nd May every £1 donated will be matched by the Big Give (up to £5,000), doubling your gift and doubling our efforts to help more people understand the impact menopause can have on mental health.
It is common to put many feelings of low mood, anxiety, irritability, feelings of self-doubt and lack of confidence down to stress at home or work. With your help we can ensure even more people can access the information they need; women like Laura, who has shared her story so that others don’t feel isolated and alone.
I started getting invisible symptoms like anxiety and loss of confidence.
“My menopause journey started when I was around forty-seven. I had no idea what the symptoms were as there was very little information available at the time. I became a bit agoraphobic and didn’t want to go out anywhere. I even started getting panicky about crossing a colleague on the stairs or going into meetings. I was still having regular periods and had no idea what was going on. I felt very different, as though I’d lost myself somewhere. I was feeling really hideous and not like myself.
“I thought there was something definitely wrong with me so I started researching frantically and realised I was going through the perimenopause, which I’d never heard of before. Eventually I started trying things like supplements but nothing worked and the symptoms continued to get worse. My social skills had left the building. I didn’t want to go out and sometimes I wanted to stay in bed and not see anyone. I became quite reclusive.
“I started HRT, it took around three months until I started seeing some positive changes. At the same time, I decided to train to be a women’s coach and it was very helpful to have someone to talk to in a safe confidential space. It was great I could open up and say how I was feeling because I was quite lonely.”
Now in postmenopause Laura is thriving and living her best life.
We want to help more women like Laura recognise the impact menopause has on mental health so that they can access support sooner.
Our experience shows that when women have access to evidence-based menopause information, it helps them seek out relevant and appropriate care and treatment. We want to increase awareness of the psychological symptoms of perimenopause to women in their 40s who may not recognise their low mood and anxiety may be due to perimenopause. We also want to educate loved ones, colleagues and employers to understand the impact of these psychological and provide them with the tools to help support them.
Because of the Big Give, your donation of £10 today will become £20, so that together we can help more people understand the impact menopause can have on mental health.
