Menopause can bring about all sorts of mixed feelings. One of the most common is undoubtedly the loneliness that afflicts many women in this delicate phase of life. Open communication on the topic can be the key to overcoming it and finally feeling understood.
What is menopause and why talking about it is (still) taboo
The menopause it is a natural physiological event that occurs in adult women when the ovaries gradually stop producing eggs and releasing the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Usually, menopause begins around the age of 45-55, but it can also occur before or after this age range.
This phenomenon brings with it a series of symptoms, among which the main ones are: hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, mood changes, and bone lossbut it is good to specify that not all women experience the same effectsthe intensity and frequency of which can vary.
In addition to these scientific notions, we also know that menopause has historically been considered a taboo due to its association with ageing and with the end of female fertility. This is because often the value of a woman has been and still is associated only with her predisposition to procreate. This, consequently, has led to the emergence of a cultural approach that often has ignored or minimized the effects of menopause on women’s livesgenerating a sense of shame e unreasonable embarrassment around the topic.
Additionally, menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes and vaginal dryness, are often viewed as embarrassing or unfeminine, so women who experience them may feel discouraged at the mere thought of sharing your feelings about it or about ask for help to better enjoy this phase of life.
How do menopausal women feel? Sun
Because of this, many women, having reached menopause, are forced to come to terms with a deep sense of lonelinesssharpened by a general lack of understanding and support (even from family members), come on physical and psychological changes which follow and which could alter the daily routine, but also from a momentary sense of bewilderment with respect to their identity. Menopause, in fact, represents a significant change in a woman’s life, which pushes her to do existential questions within a process of introspection which, if faced without external forms of support, can degenerate into self-isolation.
How to get out of isolation
To help overcome this sense of loneliness and isolation, menopausal women can seek comfort from friends and family, join support groups, or seek counseling from a mental health professional. Even adopting a healthy lifestyle, practicing regular physical activity and following a healthy and balanced diet without obviously giving up pleasure, can help improve mood and reduce the negative symptoms normally associated with menopause.
Most of all, however, it is essential to succeed talk about it openly, especially with the closest people. By striking up an unrestrained conversation on the subject, not only yes raise awareness people in this stage of life, making them more aware and empathetic, but yes normalize, breaking down those taboos that still condemn women to isolation and shame. In addition, honestly and openly sharing your experience dealing with menopause without fear of being judged by others gives you access to more information about different treatment options. In fact, the symptoms of menopause can be treated differently depending on the case, but many women are unaware of it or don’t know where to turn for help, or don’t find the courage to do so.
In particular, it would be really useful for menopausal women to feel free to share their experiences on the subject within the family unit and, above all, with the younger generationsby starting a intergenerational conversation from which to draw and through which to provide emotional support, promote understanding and empathy, reduce stigma and promote an important support network based on female solidarity that puts everyone who participates at ease.
Menopause is not the end of the world: let’s look at the positive aspects
Furthermore, this type of approach can also highlight those that are the least known positive aspects of menopause, – because yes, in some cases there are and it is good to tell them to mitigate the scaremongering that usually hovers around the topic. In fact, even if this phase can be painful and difficult to deal with both physically and psychologically, some women have also seen some improvements in their livessuch as the only one end of menstruation and so, of the hassles, expenses and worries related to their management, a greater awareness of one’s health – menopause, in fact, can represent an opportunity for women to reflect on their general state of health and to adopt a healthier lifestyle – and, in general, new opportunities due to greater freedom and availability of time to pursue and cultivate new and old passions, perhaps long shelved.
Also, although menopause can bring about a number of physical and hormonal changes that affect sexuality, such as decreased sex drive, vaginal dryness, decreased lubrication, vaginal atrophy, and loss of tissue elasticity vaginal, for some women, this phase of life can also lead to improvements in the sexual sphere. For example, the cessation of the menstrual cycle can make women less concerned about the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy, which can contribute to reduce sex-related stress and anxiety. Or, some women report feeling a greater sense of sexual freedom after menopause, as they no longer feel bound by social rules that may have restricted them in the past. Finally, menopause can represent an opportunity for women to explore new ways of experiencing sexuality and to discover new forms of pleasure, both individually and with a partner. Here, however, it must be pointed out that every woman is unique and that menopause can affect sexuality in radically different ways from person to person.
Talking about it in the family: TENA’s (winning) experiment
It is these awarenesses, first and foremost the importance of dialogue, which was treasured at the end of thesocial experiment “Mom, what is menopause like?” promoted and conceived by REALLY in conjunction with the campaign #UltimaMenopausaDaSola, a project born with the intention of promote a 360° knowledge of menopause and to break the wall of silence in which the women who are experiencing it are imprisoned, favoring the opposite an intergenerational conversation between mothers, daughters and sisterswith which to exchange accurate information, needs, but also useful resources on possible treatments, in such a way as to psychologically prepare future generations and make them arrive (more) prepared when the time comes.
In fact, during the experiment, younger women had the opportunity to ask mothers and older sisters open questions about menopause, raising doubts and fears that often go unanswered. Starting from frequent questions, but which one is often afraid to ask, menopausal women were able to tell their own experience, solving many questions and spreading new (and sometimes reassuring) awareness in this regard. This type of approach promoted by TENA has allowed those who are facing menopause to finally feel freer, understood and supported, thus confirming why talking about it is important.