Menopause Matters Magazine

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a brief, non-medical approach that can be helpful for a range of health problems, including anxiety and stress, depressed mood, hot flushes and night sweats, sleep problems and fatigue.

Professor Myra Hunter and Dr Melanie Smith in collaboration with the British Menopause Society have produced a very useful Women's Health Concern factsheet. Here's a taster of what it's about.

CBT for anxiety and stress focuses on the links between physical symptoms, thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Anxiety and stress are normal reactions to threatening situations, but become a problem when we view non-dangerous situations as threats, or if we have few resources to cope. Reducing anxiety and stress is a helpful strategy to improve wellbeing and to reduce the impact of menopausal symptoms on daily life.

CBT for low mood is helpful for people across the age. As for anxiety, low mood and hot flushes often occur together and the cognitive and behavioural strategies are helpful for both emotional and physical symptoms. When people are depressed, they tend to think more negatively about themselves, the world in general and have negative expectations about the future. Depressive thinking and behaviour can lead to a cycle of self-criticism and hopelessness, and many people often withdraw and avoid situations and end up feeling worse as a result. This can happen to people who would normally think quite differently, when they are not depressed.

CBT for hot flushes focuses on the way we think about symptoms and react to them in certain situations. Developing calm reactions and new coping strategies, such as abdominal breathing and reducing triggers, can reduce emotional responses and in turn decrease the intensity of the hot flushes.

CBT for night sweats and sleep can help when night sweats disrupt sleep. Developing a good sleep routine and good sleep habits can help, e.g. using CBT to manage worrying thoughts about stresses or sleep, and keeping to regular hours sleep and waking times. As part of a wind down routine, practising relaxation and calm breathing can reduce overall stress and provide a balance to busy lives. If these strategies are used regularly throughout the day, is then easier to apply at night to induce relaxation when required.

Here are some examples of changing 'catastrophic' thinking into calmer more helpful thoughts - but try to think of your own and see if you can come up with a calmer response:

"I won't be able to function tomorrow" becomes "I have managed before so I know I can cope."

"I'll never get a decent night's sleep again" becomes "This is tough at the moment but will pass."

"I've got so much to do tomorrow - I won't be able to cope!" becomes "I can prioritise what I need to do and a bit of distraction will help me get on with things."

Credits
You can find a link to the full paper » here
Hunter, M., Smith, M., in collaboration with the British Menopause Society. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for menopausal symptoms: Information for GPs and health professionals. Post Reproductive Health 23(2), pp. 83-84. Copyright © 2017 by the Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications, Ltd.
menopausal symptoms: Information for GPs and health professionals. Post Reproductive Health 23(2), pp. 83-84. Copyright © 2017 by the Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications, Ltd.