Anxiety, Depression & Mood Swings in Perimenopause

It's not in your head!

Moving through perimenopause can exacerbate or create symptoms such as panic, anxiety, depression, and mood swings. Estrogen has a tranquilizing effect on the body, so ebbing estrogen levels can cause moody behavior. Some researchers believe that decreasing estrogen triggers changes in your brain causing depression. But sleep problems and hot flashes can contribute to your mood as well.

In addition, there are many emotional factors particular to perimenopause that can contribute to depression, such as:

• The realization that you are moving into the second half of life
• Changes in your appearance
• Children starting college
• Caring for aging parents
• Worries about your own mortality
• Regrets that you are moving past your child-bearing years
• Frustration with weight gain that often accompanies perimenopause
• Having severe menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and migrains
• Becoming less physically active
• Not being happy in your relationship or not being in a relationship
• Not feeling that you have achieved the success you’ve hoped for
• Lack of money as you get older
• Low self-esteem

Another physical factor contributing to anxiety has to do with dieting. Many women experience weight gain during perimenopause. A "new" theory about the connection between stress and eating has recently emerged.

Even Rats Stress Over Weight Gain

Mary F. Dallman, professor of physiology at University of California (San Francisco) conducted a series of tests on rats, which confirmed that eating lots of sugar and fat caused them to develop fat deposits ... but more importantly ... reduced their stress hormone level and caused a relaxation response. When the rats stopped overeating, the stress response reactivated because that calming signal to the brain from the fat deposits stopped.

In other words, binging feels so good for the moment ... and eating less makes you feel more anxious. Well, that's hardly a news flash to those of us who have battled weight and eating issues our whole lives, who know, all too well, how food can be a sedative. But it is important in helping us understand that a certain level of anxiety may be inevitable as we pass through this period of our lives.

Depression May Trigger Perimenopause

Studies are being conducted to determine how depression affects the time at which women start perimenopause. Results have already shown that that women with a history of depression begin perimenopause sooner than those without depression. And women who took antidepressants started perimenopause even sooner. But they haven’t determined if starting menopause earlier means that you will get through it faster … or if you stay in perimenopause longer.

Osteoporosis risk may be increased in women with depression

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Mental Health report a strong association between depression and osteoporosis, which becomes a far more serious threat during perimenopause. Osteoporosis is a progressive decrease in bone density that makes bones fragile and more likely to break. Low bone mineral density (BMD), a major risk factor for fracture, is also more common in depressed people than in the general population, putting perimenopausal women at even more risk.

Perimenopause & Anxiety, Depression, & Mood Swings

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