Can Menopause Make You Crazy, Anxious, Depressed?
Menopause is often viewed very negatively by women and society in general and is still one of those taboo subjects around women’s health, especially their mental health. This is mainly due to the unpleasant symptoms women can experience. It is also because of the emotional uphevel it can cause and for many the feeling they are losing their youth and becoming an old woman.
However, at its heart, menopause is a transition from the archetype of The Maiden which represents youth, fertility and vitality to The Crone who has more access to her intuition, inner wisdom and knowing. This wise woman no longer bears the responsibility of producing or rearing children but can become a mother to her community. It is a natural change and one that needs to be embraced by all women as a time of opportunity rather than crisis.
Any change though is tiring and stressful. As I’ve explained in previous articles on menopause the Kidney Yin is declining which allows for the Kidney Yang to rise. This new surge of Yang can be unsettling and agitating, a sign that adjustments in life need to be made. Often within a day a woman can feel exhausted at one point and then have so much energy at another that she doesn’t know what to do with it. This can mean a need to adjust what you eat, your sleep patterns and your activity level. What you have been doing, how you have been living may no longer serve your needs.
Whilst the ‘symptoms’ of menopause can on the surface be the same for many women, underlying the ‘symptoms’ is a constitutional imbalance making those symptoms very different for every woman. As a Shiatsu Therapist I have mainly treated my clients using the Five Element model. Often clients will present with a certain set of symptoms plus an emotional issue showing one of the five elements as being the most out of balance. By treating this imbalance the emotional or spirit issue can be resolved which eases the surface symptoms.
“When the Spirits are overwhelmed, they leave; when left in peace they remain. Thus the most important thing in the conduct and treatment of a being is maintenance of the Spirits, and then comes maintenance of the body.” ~ Zhang Jiebin
The five elements are - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. The following is a summary of each element, how it helps us, what emotional issue or change can arise, how bringing it into balance can provide a deep, positive transition through menopause, the main menopausal symptoms that can be experienced, how a Shiatsu treatment can help to bring you back into balance and what the main diet changes may need to be.
The Wood Element - Menopause and Mood Swings
When it is healthy the Wood Element governs change. It prevents you from getting stuck. Most women get a bit stuck at some point during menopause. The Wood element can also help you to envision your future, imagine how the next phase of your life is going to be. Wood guides you when to advance in life and when to retreat. This aspect of Wood is crucial during mid-life as it can help you determine to what degree you need to be out in the world. If you’ve been a social person you may suddently find a profound need to retreat.
By the time they hit menopause many women may have spent a decade or two carrying the enormous responsibility of raising children. The surge in yang through menopause can suddenly bring on a much stronger need for freedom. So the emotional issue can be ‘how do I balance responsibility with freedom?’ How strong and how balanced her Wood element is governs how she finds a balance between her responsibilities as a mother, a daughter potentially having to now also care for elderly parents and her need for freedom.
If her Wood element is out of balance she may also struggle with visualising her next phase of life. Creating goals and forging a path for herself can be difficult. This is often the case for women who experience depression during or after menopause.
Symptoms that may be more common with a Wood imbalance are moodiness and irritability, intolerance and impatience with things she was tolerant of before, a feeling of ‘no hope’ (depression) and changeability. Often a lot of blame for these are put on hormones. But hormones don’t create emotions. They may bring emotions to the surface that were being repressed and the surge of yang through the wood element shows the need to express feelings to keep a healthy flow of Qi.
Other physical symptoms include headaches, declining vision, muscular stiffness, pain or spasms, irregular periods, heavy bleeding and hot flushes. The hot flushes can make this woman more red in the face and they’ll tend to occur when she is stressed.
If you’ve read my blog on What Does Your Body Shape Say About Your Health? you’ll know the importance of good movement of Qi and Blood through the Liver organ. In a Shiatsu treatment we can bring balance to the Wood element by moving the Liver Qi and Blood, nourishing the Liver Blood and Yin, bringing control to any Yang that is surging to greatly and clearing out any heat the Liver may be unnecessarily generating. As well as alleviating the phsyical symptoms certain acupressure points on the liver and gallbladder meridians can help treat the spirit so that a deeper level of transformation can occur. This creates more clarity and vision, brings a knowing as to when to advance and when to retreat, recalibrates the Yin and Yang and redirects the flow of Qi when it has imploded on itself (depression).
If you’re resonating with the emotional change of the Wood element then a few changes you can make to your diet can be:
including foods that help to move the Qi, cool heat and build blood eg aniseed, basil, coriander, sour foods, citrus, cider vinegar, camomile, peppermint, leafy greens
avoiding fatty and greasy foods as they can upset your digestive system
reducing your intake of heating/spicey foods as you may not be able to tolerate them as easily as you have in the past. This also includes alcohol and red meats which are heating in their thermal nature.
reducing how much you eat at each meal. Try eating only till you’re 70% full. Too much food can block the flow of Qi
move a little after eating to help the digestive process. A gentle short walk is a good idea.
The Fire Element - Help with Anxiety and Insomnia in Menopause
Your Fire element enables you to:
Express your inidividuality
Feel truly loved and loveable
Make connections with others
Feel an inner calm and stability.
Menopause can be a time when women can feel fed up with being the kind one, the tolerant one etc. They want to shift the conditioning of who they thought they should be and how they should act so they can truly be and behave as their unique self. It can also be a very vulnerable time as they feel they’ve partly been loved for their youth and beauty but now want to be loved for what is truly on the inside. If their fire element is out of balance they may also find it difficult to make connections with others which is especially difficult if the relationships within the family are breaking down. And, if their heart, yin and blood are not strong they can more easily be knocked by external events and find it difficult to reach a place of tranquility.
Emotional robustness is important for women with a Fire element imbalance. Otherwise she may grapple with the questions of:
‘How do I express my authentic self at this stage in my life?’, and
‘How do I feel loved and connected?’
She can feel vulnerable, weepy, unloveable, unattractive and experience heart palpitations, anxiety or agitation, panic attacks, depression, emotional instability and may even experience a sort of frenzy or mania. She may also be forgetful/absent-minded, experience heavy menstrual bleeding and insomnia which is often worse in the first half of the night making it hard to go to sleep.
Shiatsu treatments for a woman with a Fire element imbalance help her connect with her loveability so she can find her own shiny sparklyness. Meridians that are often worked are the heart and pericardium to help nourish blood and yin. Stretching the upper body and opening the chest helps to clear any fire that may be residing in the heart as well as any phlegm (that really thick, sticky form of damp - see previous articles for explanation) that might be clouding the spirit. Acupressure points are used to help her see more clearly, bring clarity, uplift her spirit and sort out what she wants to take through to the next phase of her life and what she wants to leave behind.
If you’re resonating with the Fire element you could try making the following changes to your diet and eating habits:
include lots of blood and yin nourishing foods eg leafy greens, brassicas, kale, parsley, watercress, a small amount of aliums like garlic but not too much as they can be heating, dandelion tea
avoid too many heating foods including alcohol and caffeine
eat with others so that you feel some connection and less loneliness
ensure eating is a joyful experience. Find pleasure in what you are eating. Many cultures eat with their hands as it gives them more connection to their food. If a diet is so restrictive that you don’t enjoy making the food or eating it give that diet away no matter how healthy you think it is for you.
be mindful of ‘emotional eating’. Often people with a fire element imbalance use food to disconnect with emotions that are difficult.
The Earth Element - Weight Gain and Worry in Menopause
The Earth element is concerned with the balance between looking after others and ourselves. Many women can grapple with this during menopause if they have spent years looking after children. It can be a challenge to find a way to redirect their mothering. For other women who’ve had children later in life they may find themselves sandwiched between looking after young children and older parents and so struggle to find opportunities for their own self-care. Women with no children may also feel the finality in being able to have children and feel their opportunity to look after others is passed.
The Earth element likes to feel involved, in the middle of things, part of a community. It also governs our thought processes. When it is out of balance it can cause the mind to get stuck in worries and for thoughts to go round and round. Women with an Earth imbalance are more likely to put on weight through poor dietary choices and eating habits.
The key emotional changes for the Earth element are:
‘What are my needs in this next phase of my life and how will I connect with them and meet them when I’m being pulled in so many directions?’
‘What is my role in life now my children are growing up/leaving and how can I find another way to meet being needed?’
The Earth element is responsible for transforming what we eat and drink into useable energy. It is also responsible for helping us digest and transform our emotional experiences. When the Earth element is weak it can be hard for it to take in, digest and transform any care, love and support that is being given. Women with this imbalance may find themselves saying things like “I just feel like noone understands what I’m going through.” or “I feel like noone is here to support me.”
The most common menopausal symptoms she’ll experience are digestive disorders, a tendency to retain water and put on weight, muscle slackness, fatigue. Plus she’ll be more prone to worry and overthinking, feeling ‘ungrounded’, feeling misunderstood and feeling uncared for.
The aim of a Shiatsu treatment would be to strengthen her digestive system, known as the Spleen in Chinese Medicine. This will make sure that what she eats is properly digested and transformed into fuel. It will also help lift her energy and can shorten and lighten long, heavy periods. If she has reached a point where she just cannot bear looking after anyone anymore acupressure can help her welcome back a sense of mothering. It can also help her change or break unhealthy patterns that may be generational.
If you feel your Earth element may be out of balance your self care in terms of your diet would be to:
Eat less - eat only 70% of what is on your plate and let that digest before consuming any more. This helps you get to know when you’re full.
Avoid cold foods - those straight out of the fridge or freezer and raw, uncooked foods. Plus considerably reduce your intake of dairy and more viscous foods like bananas, honey and peanut butter. Small amounts infrequently is fine.
Include foods that move Qi (see above to the Wood element)
Find ways to make eating a communal activity eg making meals with others and then eating together
If you’re sick of being the one doing all the cooking and feel as though you’ve been churning meals out for years then it might be time to change the way you’re cooking or what you’re cooking. Perhaps it’s time to do a cooking class to reinspire you or get others more involved in food production so you don’t feel as though you’re doing all the work.
The Metal Element - How to Help Feelings of Sadness in Menopause
Your Metal element is responsible for connecting you with that which is of value in life and within yourself. it oversees your relationship with the emotions of sadness and grief and enables you to let go of things that no longer serve you so that you can take in new things that give you the direction for the next phase in your life.
Menopause can be a great time of loss for a women. Her children might be moving out of home, her parents may be elderly or may have passed away, her relationship with her partner might come to an end and she can have feelings of not being who she used to be.
In order to process loss your metal element needs to be strong. If it is imbalanced the key emotional changes can be around:
‘How can I create meaning in the next phase of my life?’
‘What will my source of self-esteem be in the next phase?’
The symbol for the Metal element shows there are nuggets of gold within us. It is important during menopause to connect with these nuggets so that you can still feel good about yourself and know your own value and worth.
Women with a Metal imbalance may find themselves to be more teary and easily upset during their menopause. Because their boundaries are weaker they may also be more impacted by losses and be moved into deeper states of melancholy. They also may find themselves more affected by respiratory ailments. Dryness may also be an issue and hot flushes might be worse in the early hours of the morning.
Shiatsu treatments help rebalance the Metal element by nourishing and warming the lung Qi, nourishing the lung yin and resolving any phlegm in the lungs. The stomach, spleen, lung and large intestine meridians are important in treatments and acupressure points may help a women to find her internal riches so that feelings of having value and meaning in life are restored and more fluidity is brought to the spirit.
Because the value of things is so important to the Metal element eating good quality organic produce is crucial. Otherwise the body can easily feel polluted. Including foods that nourish Qi and Yin are also important. Foods that do this are rice, carrots, sweet potato, brasicas, mushrooms, small amounts of honey, malt, molasses and small amounts of pungent foods like garlic and onion. Avoid any foods that tend to make you feel mucousy or phlegmy - mainly dairy.
The Water Element - Menstrual Changes and Hot Flushes in Menopause
I started this exploration into the emotional changes of menopause with the Wood Element which governs change. The Water element underpins the changeover of cycles. In this case moving from the reproductive cycle into the non-reproductive years. It also influences your relationship with the future so a strong Water element is more likely to have a positive outlook on the change that is taking place.
Water houses your will power and determines your degree of drive. Some women may not undergo any change to their drive to be more successful. In others the surge of yang can make them more driven and they go on to have very fulfilling and distinguished careers. This is often because they finally feel safe within themselves and are trusting of what the future holds rather than fearful.
Change can be tiring but it also takes courage. The main emotional change for a woman with a Water constituion is ‘How can I approach the next phase of my life with serenity and courage?’
If the Water element becomes unbalanced this woman is likely to suffer from things like a change in their menstrual cycle with irregular periods that are to heavy, infrequent or too frequent, insomnia which is worse in the early hours of the morning (she may wake at 4 or 5am needing to pee and possibly feel agitated and unable to go back to sleep), lethargy, feeling cold, hot flushes that bring on red cheeks, water retention, lowered libido, anxiety, depression, panic attacks and spiritual malaise.
Shiatsu treatments for this woman are about keeping a good balance between Yin and Yang while everything is changing so they can go with the flow. They also nourish the Kidney Yin, Yang and Jing (vital life force) and clear out any empty heat. Acupressure points help her have a clearer view of what the future might look like, overcome any fears of the future and address any fears that may be preventing her from walking into the next phase of her life.
If you’re resonating with the Water element then from a diet and eating habits perspective you need to:
include foods which nourish your vital life force eg duck, liver, beef, kidney, nuts and seeds
reduce damp forming foods - large amounts of dairy is the main culprit as are more viscous foods like banana, honey, processed sugars and peanut butter
You’re best to have a diet that is energetically netural so you don’t want to eat to much of anything that feels like it heats you up (spicey foods, alcohol, caffeine) or cools you down (foods straight out of the fridge or freezer and salads)
When you’re eating, be still and only eat. Slow you’re eating down. Be at one with your meal.
Supplements such as bee pollen and royal jelly can be benefiical for those with a Water imbalance.
Whilst the above is aimed at providing menopausal women with knowledge on the emotional changes they may experience, how menopause can affect their mental health and what they can do to help themsleves through Shiatsu and diet, the imbalances in each element can occur at other points in life to so the information is valuable to anyone going through some kind of change.
We are always moving in and out of balance but by realising that change and transformation is a time of opportunity rather than crisis you can often move through the change with more ease.
For women going through menopause there may be some unpleasant symptoms like hot flushes, changes to the menstrual cycle, insomnia, anxiety and depression but the deeper transformation that is occuring is what is more important. Transitioning from Maiden to Crone brings up key emotional changes that give women greater access to their intuition, inner knowing and wisdom
Soul Body Shiatsu in Bayside, Melbourne specialises in helping women through menopause naturally. The healing room is a safe space for women to talk about their mental health and emotions before and after treatment. Shiatsu massage treatments are tailored to each woman’s five element imbalance so their whole health and wellbeing is nurtured.
To book a Shiatsu massage for perimenopause, menopause or post menopause or to book a Shiatsu massage if you are experiencing change that is affecting your mental health contact Marian on 0403 550 695.