Menopause, it may be a natural part of a women’s lifecycle journey, but often a topic we don’t find natural to speak about. People can often find talking about the menopause and their symptoms difficult in an open forum and when it comes to the workplace, unless we are familiar, we may not know the best course of action to take to support women.
We wanted to include this as a topic for Wellbeing Wednesday to try and raise some awareness of this and the impact this can have on women but also the people around them and to encourage people to talk about it more so they feel they can address this with their manager should they require support.
Before we get into the menopause, let’s just take a few minutes to talk about the perimenopause.
Perimenopause - this is the pre menopause stage, which some of us can hit as early as our late 30s. It is a time to reassess and reset the parts of your day to day life where improvements can made, ahead of the menopause. It is about looking at you in the inside and to redefine who you are. The body is very much open to change but there may be changes you can make in your life which can physically through having a better relationship with your body which in turn helps you mentally with anxiety and confidence levels. You can prepare yourself by making changes to your health and examining better coping mechanisms for when the menopause hits.
How does the menopause affect women?
It can affect women in different ways. Some will experience significant symptoms whereas some will feel less of an impact. Some will be able to manage their symptoms through remaining healthy lifestyle and taking regular exercise whereas some will require medical intervention and their symptoms could have adverse effect on their day to day lives. Common symptoms include (but not excluded to):
- Hot flushes
- Night sweats
- Difficulty sleeping
- Changes in mood
- Joint stiffness, aches and pains
How can I support someone going through menopause?
- Have regular check ins and wellbeing conversations with them so you can recognise changes in behaviours and performance as a result of their symptoms. Just because someone isn’t complaining about symptoms doesn’t mean they are not experiencing them.
- Listen – they may just want to chat and know they are not alone. If you feel you can support please do so, whilst taking into account people’s boundaries as not everyone will want to share. Don’t be frightened to ask then how best you can provide support.
- Don’t make assumptions about people – they probably won’t thank you for it.
How do I get support if I have menopause symptoms?
- If you feel you need some support from the business, please discuss this with your line manager. Your conversations will be kept confidential and you can agree on a course of action. If your manager feels they cannot help you, you should agree together who this should be raised to.
- Working in an agile way gives you more flexibility on how you work. You may struggle sleeping and therefore require a later start time or need regular breaks in the day to take some exercise. Please discuss this with your manager, so we can look at the best options available.
- If you feel there are reasonable adjustments which can be made, again please discuss these with your manager.
- If you're finding your symptoms particularly troublesome, contact your GP as treatments are available.
- Visit the NHS website to find out more about how to manage symptoms of the menopause.
Further information
If you would like to find out more about menopause, here are some resources you may wish to access:
- NHS guidance on menopause
- Women’s Health Concern (the patient arm of the British Menopause Society)
- British Menopause Society
- Support for premature menopause
International Women’s Day – Choose to Challenge
Next Monday (8 March) is International Women’s Day. Throughout next week we will be sharing information and resources to learn more about bias, how to challenge for equality and celebrate women’s achievements. So please keep your eyes peeled.