Depression in menopausal women

Depression is a very common syndrome in women, especially older women, and this rate increases during the period around menopause, affecting the patient's life.

Factors that can lead to depression

Many opinions say that depression in menopausal women is due to a number of factors such as: There are adverse events in life such as: economic difficulties, employment, family relationships, education level, use of treatment drugs,... Specifically, the survey results on 64 women around menopause (40 - 55 years old) showed that depression is related to factors including: Education level, having had to visit a psychiatrist, a history of being diagnosed with depression and using antidepressants, the rate of depression is 39.1%... causing menopausal women to suffer from depression.

A recent study in our country shows that factors such as: difficult economic conditions, no home, no children, psychological trauma (husband died, children moved out, loneliness)... in menopausal women, the risk of depression is nearly 2.75 times higher.

Reproductive health care consultation for women in Yen The (Bac Giang). Photo: V. Nam

The manifestations

The period of 40 - 45 years old, the menstrual cycle gradually becomes less frequent and irregular, that is the pre-menopause period. Over the centuries, people have noticed that menopause is often associated with an increase in the frequency and severity of depression. Depression in menopausal women has both the characteristics of depression in general, but also has its own characteristics in both rate and clinical picture.

Many menopausal women feel sad, depressed or irritable when they have the disease. Feeling tired, weak, lethargic. Difficulty concentrating and not being able to grasp information. Decreased self-confidence. Loss of interest in daily activities, work or entertainment. Feeling depressed, giving up, not taking care of yourself or your family, feeling unworthy or accusing. Sleep disturbances (difficulty falling asleep, sleeping less, waking up early or sleeping a lot). Eating less or not enjoying food, sometimes eating too much.

Severe depression often has symptoms of weight loss (50% loss of body weight within 4 weeks), decreased libido, poor sleep, early awakening, accompanied by paranoia and hallucinations. This condition lasts at least 2 weeks.

When the patient has 5 of the above symptoms, he/she should see a doctor for examination and treatment.

What to do?

Depression in menopausal women is often related to psychological causes combined with hormonal changes that often occur in the early years of menopause. If detected early and treated with psychological, hormonal, and antidepressant drugs, the patient will progress well, can fully recover and gradually adapt in the following years. Therefore, women in menopause, especially women with severe premenopausal symptoms as well as family problems, economic difficulties, psychological trauma, etc., need to be examined and screened for depression to detect early and have timely treatment for depressive disorders to improve the quality of life for women, helping them to overcome this difficult stage of life smoothly.

According to SKDS-TH