When Pamela Kragen* was going through menopause, she remembers a woman who became so enraged that she ripped the phone out of the wall.
The woman happened to be Kragen herself.
At times, menopause transformed Kragen into another persona entirely — one that reminded her of a woman whose multiple personalities could not be controlled.
“Normally, I may fly off the handle once or twice a year. But once I started going through menopause, it was like every day,” Kragen recalls. “Somebody had taken over my body. I’d be fine and then suddenly I’d go crazy.”
Mood swings may not be a daily occurrence for all women going through a menopausal shift, but if you do experience mood swings, rest assured that you’re not alone. Women can also suffer depression, anger, and anxiety during menopause. In either case, there are steps you can take to get your moods under control.
What causes mood swings during menopause?
It’s not clear what causes mood swings. However, women who have mood swings related to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can attest to the connection between hormone levels and emotions. Changing hormone levels during the menstrual cycle are the way parts of the brain — the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland — communicate with a woman’s reproductive system.
Communication between a woman’s brain and reproductive organs may happen differently during menopause, but it’s still happening. Although there isn’t a precise understanding of how hormones affect mood, there are several theories, including some that examine how mood-enhancing mechanisms in the brain are linked to hormone levels. Women using estrogen patches, for example, develop more mood-enhancing serotonin receptors in the brain. Hormones can also affect endorphin levels, the chemical associated with “runner’s high.” Researchers hypothesize that a decrease in a woman’s hormone levels can also alter her general sense of well-being.
Two other common problems during menopause — sleep deprivation and night sweats — are also associated with moodiness. Night sweats, the night version of hot flashes, can make a good night’s sleep difficult. It’s not surprising then, that sleep deprivation can cause someone to be moody and irritable.
A study in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine found that women between the ages of 45 and 54 who reported severe depressive symptoms also reported more hot flashes, night sweats, sleep difficulties, mood swings, and memory problems than women who were not depressed.
How can I minimize mood swings?
Making some lifestyle changes could go far in resolving moodiness. If sleep problems are the culprit, following some basic principles of what experts call “sleep hygiene” can help:
- Don’t drink alcohol or caffeine products within four hours of bedtime. Alcohol may be good at putting you to sleep, but it tends to wake you up as levels of it in your blood fall.
- Try not to nap during the day because that can make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep at night.
- Eating heavy, spicy, or sugary meals can also wake you up at night, so try to avoid eating those close to bedtime . And although there is no scientific evidence to support the claim, some women find that cutting down on spicy foods, alcohol, and caffeine reduces the number of hot flashes they experience, including those night sweats that wake them up. To see if it works for you, try experimenting by removing them from your diet.
- Make your bedroom more sleep-friendly by setting the heat at a comfortable level, blocking out as much noise and light as possible, keeping the television out of your bedroom, and staying off the phone right before bedtime.
- If you feel like stress in your life is feeding your mood swings, joining a menopause support group might be the right forum for you. Many women find that yoga and meditation help even out their moods. Some teachers offer yoga classes specifically for women going through menopause. Regular exercise is also helpful in making you feel better overall.
How common is depression during menopause?
It’s not clear how common depression is in menopause. A consensus statement by the National Institutes for Health, for example, reflects the wide ranging results from studies: Between 8 and 38 percent of women going through menopause experience mood changes. A Harvard medical study of 460 premenopausal and perimenopausal women with no history of depression found that women in perimenopause were twice as likely to be depressed as women who had not yet entered perimenopause.
What is clear is that a history of depression does make menopausal women more susceptible to developing it. Women who have experienced PMS, or postpartum depression are at greater risk for depression during menopause than women who did not report being depressed at those times.
It may come as no surprise that women who have an especially long transition into menopause seem to be more prone to depression than those whose transition is shorter, especially if they’re also experiencing other bothersome menopausal symptoms.
What is the treatment for depression during menopause?
Severe depression is defined as feeling down or experiencing a loss of interest or pleasure for two weeks or more, with at least five of the following: depressed mood for most of the day and nearly every day, significant changes in weight or appetite, changes in sleep, a feeling of hopelessness, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, recurrent thoughts about death or suicide, inability to concentrate, fatigue, or loss of energy. If you’re severely depressed consult with your doctor.
If you’re feeling a little bit down, but consistently so, exercise and talking with a therapist may work as well as a prescription for an antidepressant medication, according to some studies. Yoga, a gentle martial art like tai chi, or meditation can ease stress or anxiety that may contribute to mild depression. You could also join a menopause support group to share your feelings with other women who may be going through similar feelings.
For Kragen, seeing a therapist twice weekly was helpful in alleviating her moods. Kragen also began exercising more regularly and more vigorously. It took several months, but she was finally able to get her moods under control.
References
Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. Female reproductive endocrinology, introduction.
Boston Women’s Health Collective. Norsigian, Judy, Pinn, Vivian Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause. Touchstone.
Boeker, Henning, Sprenger, Till, et al. The Runner’s High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain, Cerebral Cortex; 18(11):2523-31
University of University of Maryland Medical Center. Sleep Hygiene. Sleep Disorders Center.
Mangione, Carol M. Briceland-Betts, Deborah, et al. National Institutes of Health State-of the Science Conference Statement: Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms, Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 142, Number 12 (Part 1), pp 1003-1013 (NIH).
Cohen, Lee S., Claudio, N, et,al. Risk for New Onset of Depression During the Menopausal Transition. Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 63, No. 4, pp 385-390
Bosworth, H.B., Bastian, L.A., et al. Depressive Symptoms, Menopausal Status, and Climacteric Symptoms in Women at Midlife. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63: 603-608.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, American Psychiatric Association.
Love, Susan, M. Dr. Susan Love’s Menopause & Hormone Book. Three Rivers Press.
Wayne State University, Public Relations. Wayne State University researcher gains international attention for cell phone study.
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