The focus of this year’s World Menopause Day is cognition and mood. In this episode, Dr Louise Newson talks to Dr Clair Crockett, a GP and menopause specialist with an interest in mood, mental health and hormones. Clair’s interest in the topic stems from her own experience of escalating anxiety, low mood and intrusive thoughts in the premenstrual phase of her cycle during her mid-to-late 30s. Through her own research, she looked for ways to help her symptoms including through lifestyle changes, supplements and antidepressants. While these all helped some aspects of her mental health, it wasn’t until she began taking HRT that the premenstrual mental health symptoms eased.
The experts discuss the importance of considering hormones when helping women experiencing mental health problems and outline some of the ways they are working to improve education about menopause and mental health amongst healthcare professionals.
Clair’s tips to women with mental health symptoms in perimenopause and menopause:
If you’d like to read more about Clair’s personal experience of mental health and hormones, you can read her story here.
117 - Transforming the lives of men and women with Paul Anderson
116 - Testosterone: the forgotten hormone with Professor Isaac Manyonda
115 - Migraine and hormones, with specialist Dr Katy Munro
114 - Writing ‘Preparing for the Perimenopause and Menopause’ with journalist, Kat Keogh
113 - Mothers, daughters and hormone havoc with Lorraine Candy
112 - ‘Menopause is a public health issue’ with Nick Panay
111 - Looking after your skin with Votary’s Arabella Preston
110 - Finding support with POI in the digital space with Anita Elawure
109 - Looking after your future health with Professor Gordan Lauc
108 - Functional Imagery Training with Helen Pearce
107 - Osteoporosis: What is it and how to prevent it, with Prof James Simon
106 - Seeing the bigger picture with Men’s Health specialist Dr Jeff Foster
105 - Living with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency and starting a family
104 - Mindfulness and Menopause with yoga teacher Claudia Brown
103 - Dr Radhika Vohra: When will women’s health become a priority?
102 - Melanie Martins: Treat me like a patient but there’s no ’one size fits all’
101 - Dorothy Byrne: Speaking out about the menopause at work
100 - Reflecting on Dr Newson’s and Dr Lewis’ achievements for women
099 - Kate Muir: I cannot let this happen to other people
098 - Davina McCall: Making a menopause documentary left me in tears
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