Don’t underestimate the distress of menopause

Ms. D, 49 years old, has often had bouts of fever, excessive sweating, forgetfulness, and a lot of anger at the slightest displeasure in the last 2 years, and thought it was a reaction to menopause, so she didn’t pay much attention to it. It was only when she took 30 Valium tablets once and tried to commit suicide that her family realized the seriousness of the problem. Menopause is an important stage in life, with significant physiological changes, a gradual decline in the function of the neuroendocrine system, and lowered hormone levels, often bringing a series of physical illnesses and emotional changes, as well as pressure from work, family, marriage and society, making depression and anxiety disorders more common. Menopausal depression is a common mental disorder that occurs during menopause and begins with neurological symptoms, such as insomnia, fatigue, dizziness, headache, irritability and other physical discomfort. Patients are often depressed, depressed, anxious, overly worried about accidents, remembering the past in a pessimistic and negative mood, comparing the present and worrying about the future. They think that they were young and successful in the past, but now they are more than half a century old, as if “the sun is setting in the west, it is almost dusk”, they are depressed, slow in thinking, slow in reaction, they feel that they have little energy, they are not able to do anything, they are not interested in the things they usually like, especially they are easily fatigued and cannot be relieved even after rest. In some cases, the patient may think that he is not only useless, but also guilty, and that people around him are talking about him, or even trying to kill him. Patients with menopausal depression often carry discomfort in physiological functions, mostly with clinical symptoms of the digestive system, cardiovascular system and vegetative nervous system: loss of appetite, epigastric discomfort, dry mouth, constipation, diarrhea, palpitations, changes in blood pressure, increased or slowed pulse, chest tightness, numbness in the extremities, chills, fever, loss of libido, changes in menstruation, as well as sleep disturbances, dizziness and fatigue. The emotional manifestations and physical symptoms of menopausal depression are often mistaken for menopausal reactions and are not noticed by patients and family members, so treatment is easily delayed. If a woman in menopause feels depressed, nervous and anxious for a long time or suspects that she is suffering from an incurable disease, but no specific disease can be detected, it suggests that she may be suffering from menopausal depression, in which case she should go to a clinical psychological or psychiatric outpatient clinic for early Effective antidepressant medication and psychotherapy should be administered early. Family members with menopausal depression should be aware of the disease, pay attention to psychological understanding of the patient, sympathize with the patient, pay attention to the care and protection of the patient to support the patient to recover as soon as possible, have a full estimate of the severity of the disease, and take effective preventive measures against all possible surprises.