Content advisory: this podcast contains themes of mental health and suicide.
On this week’s episode of the Dr Louise Newson Podcast, Anna Geldard shares her story of how her mental health was severely affected by menopause.
Anna tells Dr Louise how therapy and medication had helped her successfully manage her obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and mild depression symptoms for over a decade. But out of the blue, Anna’s symptoms returned and quickly spiralled. Anna was admitted to hospital, on six psychiatric drugs but still didn’t feel better.
Thankfully, after learning about the impact of hormones on mental health and being prescribed HRT, things changed for the better.
Anna’s top three tips:
1. Have more open conversations, starting from at home with the kids. This will filter through society, making menopause less of an unspoken thing and more of a just another thing about the body.
2. Make sure your resources are evidence based. There's a lot of information on social media, so just make sure that whoever you're listening to is appropriately qualified.
3. Advocate for yourself. If your symptoms are hormone related and you're being told you're too young or whatever, try again and don't just give up at that first hurdle.
Anna is on Instagram @Hormones.on.her_mind. Find out more about OCD through charities OCD-UK and OCD Action.
Contact the Samaritans for 24-hour, confidential support by calling 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
119 - Testosterone: why can’t we have our own hormone back? With Dr Zoe Hodson
118 - Testosterone: not just icing on the cake with Rachel Dawber
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
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