Menopause Awareness Day
World Menopause Awareness Day is on October 18th. This year, the focus for the day is to raise awareness about menopause at work. With a large proportion of the workforce experiencing menopause, it’s important to raise awareness about how it impacts women’s lives at work.
One of my clients, Kate Usher is an activist and menopause coach who gives practical advice about living with menopause and also about improving the workplace for women who are going through this change.
Kate started her perimenopause at 42, when she was a mum to a toddler and a baby. She had no-one she could talk to at that time in her life, and didn’t understand what was happening to her. And the menopause took her to a very dark place. She struggled at work, to look after her children and hold her relationship together. As she sweated profusely, people would walk off leaving her to fan her face trying to cool herself. Because of this she had to learn to talk about what was happening to her, and deal with the poor behaviour of others so she began to talk to people about how they should behave and talk about menopause with her as a menopausal woman.
This was the beginning of what has become her business today.
You’d think in this day and age, people would have at least some understanding of how the menopause affects people – there seems to be lots out there about it. And yet Kate has found that women in the workplace are still finding it hard to raise the subject and in fact it can be detrimental to their current and future career. Many even choose to leave rather than cope with the situation.
Kate is on a mission to help women and businesses to understand menopause; for the former to keep their jobs and the latter understand how to retain women going through this stage in their life.
The NHS lists just 20 common symptoms of the menopause. However, there are many more, and everyone is unique in how they go through this change.
For women in work not only can they have physical symptoms, but also mental symptoms too, which has a huge effect on their ability to continue to work at their normal level.
- Anxiety
- Changes in mood – such as low mood or irritability
- Feelings of loss of self
- Loss of self-confidence
- Problems with memory, concentration and ‘brain fog’
Add in some of the physical symptoms too, and it’s not surprising that women struggle in the workplace. Some of these symptoms can include:
- Headaches or migraines
- Hot flushes
- Hair loss or thinning
- Joint stiffness, aches or pains
- Palpitations – your heartbeat suddenly feels more noticeable
- Changes in skin conditions including the onset of adult acne
Kate and her husband, Neil have written a book to support people through the Menopause:
‘A Couple’s Guide to MENOPAUSE’ – Navigating the Change Together by Kate Usher and Neil Usher
They look at the menopause from both a male and female point of view, so that people in a relationship can gain access to information about learning to manage the experience together.
To take a line from the book’s blurb:
The menopause can challenge even the most stable, loving and supportive relationships: here’s how to make sure yours can survive – and thrive.
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