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Menopause and Misdiagnosis
11/05/2024

The key takeaway from this study that explored mental health disorders and menopause was this, "Potential misattribution of psychological distress and psychiatric disorders to menopause could harm women by delaying accurate diagnosis and the initiation of effective psychotropic treatments, and by creating negative expectations for people approaching menopause."

In a nutshell, many women are misdiagnosed as having mental health disorders in menopause, rather than having their physiological distress and issues actually dealt with.

Here are the main points:

  • Concerns about increased risks of anxiety and depression may shape expectations and experiences of menopause.
  • However, women are not universally or uniformly at risk of psychological symptoms over the menopause transition.
  • Risk factors for depressive symptoms at this time include severe and prolonged vasomotor symptoms, chronic sleep disturbance, and stressful life events, and women with previous depressive disorder might be at increased risk of recurrence of a new depressive episode during the menopause transition.
  • The menopause transition often coincides with important life stressors, health conditions, and role transitions that increase vulnerability to depression.
  • Clinicians should not assume that psychological symptoms during the menopause transition are always attributable to hormonal changes and should offer evidence-based treatments; menopausal hormone therapy can improve concurrent depressive symptoms for patients with troublesome vasomotor symptoms.

Learn more by clicking the link below!

Link: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02801-5/fulltext