World Menopause Day is held every year on the 18th October. The day was designated by the International Menopause Society (IMS) to raise awareness of the menopause and to support options to improve health and well-being for women in mid-life and beyond. World Menopause Day is held every year on the 18th October. The day was designated by the International Menopause Society (IMS) to raise awareness of the menopause and to support options to improve health and well-being for women in mid-life and beyond. The menopause is a natural process that occurs when a woman stops having periods and is no longer able to conceive naturally.
While symptoms of perimenopause may be experienced over the course of several months or years, a woman is said to have experienced the menopause when she has not had a period for 12 months, states the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). Because perimenopause is a time where hormone levels fluctuate wildly, symptoms will vary over time. Common symptoms include sore swollen breasts, lowered libido, heavy bleeding, hot flushes, night sweats, lowered mood, anxiety and sleep disturbances. After menopause hot flushes and night sweats are still common, affecting ¾ of post-menopausal women, with 1 in 3 women finding the disruption severely bothersome.
Many men admit that they don’t understand what menopause is and why it’s affecting their partner’s and friend’s behaviour. More than a quarter of men in the UK have very little understanding of what menopause is, according to a new survey, and nearly a fifth admitted they wouldn’t know how to respond or react if their partner is (or was) experiencing menopause symptoms.
Clinical hypnotherapy has been shown to be effective in reducing hot flashes. Randomised, controlled trials of clinical hypnosis demonstrated the approach was significantly better than a “structured attention” therapy approach in postmenopausal women with frequent hot flashes and more effective than acupuncture, herbal supplements and yoga.
In sessions with a hypnotherapist, a woman with unwanted menopausal symptoms can learn to use simple techniques to manage their reaction to things like hot flushes. During hypnosis sessions you may be asked to imagine stepping into a cool sea or feeling a cool breeze and then coached in self-hypnosis so that you can learn to visualise that same body-cooling sensation when hot flushes strike in everyday life, leading to actual relief of symptoms.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) has over 2000 highly trained and qualified therapists on its register of UK therapists who can assist you in this transition of life. Contact one today and enjoy some relief.