Depression

Menopause can be a difficult time. Intrusive symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, painful sex, and sleep problems can create physical discomfort and emotional distress. Meanwhile, the transition out of your fertile years can be a time of introspection and give rise to complex feelings about your sense of self and your place in the world. For some, it is also a time when the symptoms of depression emerge, either for the first time or more severely than in the past.

Mood swings are some of the least-understood aspects of menopause—and the most misrepresented. While pop culture representations of menopause tend to center specifically on mood, they typically treat menopausal women as a caricature of irrationality and hysteria rather than capturing the variability and complexity of menopause-related mood disturbances. Not only does this trivialize the very real suffering many women experience during this pivotal phase of life, but it may also leave you feeling ashamed and immobilized.

Most people know that testosterone is a critical part of physical wellbeing. However, a growing body of research suggests that this multifaceted hormone can also play a role in mental health in men. For example, a 2016 study on older men found that “low serum testosterone was associated with an 86% increased hazard of depression.”

Depressive disorder is frequently referred to simply as depression—but let’s not just assume it’s only about feeling down or going through a passing phase. Depression is a serious mental health condition that requires patience from loved ones and professional medical and mental health care.

Following depression and alcoholism, social anxiety disorder is the third most common mental disorder in the United States. It is an exhausting condition that affects the lives of millions of people and their loved ones.