Are menopause and anxiety connected? There may not be a definitive answer to that question. Menopause comes at a time in a woman's life when huge changes are being made outside of her physical self as well as within it.

If a woman has children, no doubt those children are now young adults and have embarked on lives of their own. They may be college students, they may be beginning their new careers or even living with or marrying significant others. They may be on the other side of the planet engaging in a life that has nothing to do with their Mother. Meanwhile, Mother is attempting to deal with the fact that she is no longer number one in her kids lives. Her identity has been changed from the be all to is this all? After twenty some years, Mom is now realizing that her comfort zones are drastically changing their borders and she has to learn to live within them or fight the inevitable.

At the same time her body is literally morphing into something altogether different from what she's known from her first 45 to 50 years. The skin is slackening and drying, the wrinkles are deepening, the hair has become grayer and courser and wiry. The periods longer, stronger and uglier then ever and/or sporadic and insignificant. The breasts are a little saggier, the teeth are a little more yellow, the energy levels are lower, and the weight gain seems to be an entity of it's own. All of this goes along with the onset of joint/arthritis pain, hair growing in places no woman should have to deal with, 20/20 vision requiring magnifiers, a growing lack of sex drive and inevitably a spouse who has his own middle-aged mental-pause happening.

Along with all of this she is expected to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a successful career, a successful relationship, volunteer at the local hospital or animal care center, keep a fabulous home, have sex 2.5 times per week, visit her ailing Mother regularly and organize the office social events and keep the finances in check and the family pets alive all while maintaining a cheerful, good natured demeanor at all times.

As a woman who started on the road to womanhood at the age of ten, has lived through 36 years of heavy, long, painful periods and am now in peri-menopause that is not going well and facing a hysterectomy how could anxiety not play a roll in all of this? I believe there are many times that anxiety has a correlation with the hormonal imbalances in our bodies.

Are anxiety and menopause connected? Absolutely! Is menopause the cause of anxiety? Menopause more then likely magnifies the effects of anxiety but causing anxiety...likely not. Life cause anxiety. Whether we are prepubescent, pubescent, young adults in the first throes of a relationship, or middle-aged and menopausal, there are always going to be times when our anxiety rears it's ugly head. It stands to reason that a woman in menopause is going to experience anxiety more often then one who is not. Just ask any woman in menopause...but do so at a safe distance.

Learn more about this author, Christine Hayden.
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