What is CBT?

CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy is a non-medical treatment that focuses on how what you think and believe has a direct effect on how you feel and behave. It teaches you tools and techniques for coping with the problems that you are experiencing.

CBT as a treatment involves talking with someone to identify any negative thoughts and patterns that you may have and then investigating ways that you can change your thinking and feelings enabling you to make positive behavioural changes in the future.

CBT treatment combines cognitive - things you think and behaviour - things you do. It is a common treatment for a range of mental problems such as anxiety and depression.

Menopause….what are the symptoms?

Menopause marks the time in a woman’s life when her periods cease and she moves into a new stage. The average age for perimenopause is between 45-50 with the average age of reaching menopause being 51, though the ages can differ and women can enter perimenopause in their 30s and reach menopause in their early 40s.

During perimenopause, many women can experience a whole spectrum of different symptoms. These can include physical effects such as hot flushes, itchy dry skin, weight gain, dry eyes, low libido, brain fog, and memory loss.

These physical symptoms can also bring about stress and anxiety. The feelings of embarrassment that arise from hot flushes and night sweats, loss of bladder control, and memory function can all exacerbate stress and anxiety. The psychological symptoms that can be experienced at this time include;

• Irritability

• Feeling highly emotional

• Panic attacks

• Depression

• Feeling overwhelmed

• Sadness

• Mood swings/ constant tears

While many women will go through this transition suffering from various symptoms but will still find it easy to cope with life, others will struggle daily.

One of the main reasons women suffer greatly during this time is the drop in hormones, notably estrogen and progesterone. These hormones play a vital role in the body and although they are viewed as primarily being the hormones that control the reproductive system, they also have receptors in other parts of the body such as the brain that affect other hormones.

In this case, hormones such as serotonin and dopamine affect a person’s mood. As estrogen levels drop in the body so does the production of these feel-good hormones meaning that many can start to suffer from cognitive disorders that they may never have suffered from before.

Women who have suffered with or do suffer from panic attacks and depression can start to experience even more episodes,

Using CBT for stress

Anyone who has ever suffered from stress or panic attacks will know that it can have a devastating effect on your life. The symptoms for some can be so severe that it totally disrupts their lives and stops them from doing many things. Symptoms of stress and panic attacks include;

• Shortness of breath

• Dizzy spells

• Palpitations

• Nausea

• Muscle tensions

• Chronic sweating

• Fatigue

• Dry mouth

• Feelings of terror

• Hyperventilation.

Some of these symptoms can be so terrifying that they can leave a person unable to function on a day-to-day basis and can give them the impression that they experiencing a heart attack, leading to more severe bouts of anxiety. This can then become a vicious circle as the terror of having an attack can bring about another attack.

Using CBT to aid in panic attacks

CBT can be very beneficial for panic attacks, anxiety, stress management, and depression. CBT aids a woman with practical skills and coping mechanisms to manage the problems associated with menopause. CBT for cognitive symptoms looks at the link between physical problems and thoughts, feelings, and behaviour resulting from them.

How we think about a problem determines how we feel about it which affects how we react to it and the results that we get. Stress happens when a situation overwhelms us or demands too much from us. This makes us feel that we can’t cope which brings about stress or a panic attack. Anxious or stressful thinking triggers anxiety and stress. CBT strategies help you to develop a calmer more controlled view of the situation, which helps you respond more helpfully.

Menopause coping strategies

CBT helps develop coping strategies during this stage in a woman’s life. Menopause may coincide with many other stresses at this time.

From “empty nest syndrome”, where their children are beginning to move out and make independent lives of their own, careers can be coming to an end or women are trying to get back into the workplace after being at home for a long period.

Relationships can start to break down and there are bereavements of elderly relatives. All of these changes can start to take their toll emotionally and mentally. This is why CBT can be so effective at bringing perspective back into a woman's life.

By evaluating thoughts and feelings, examining negative thought processes, and challenging unhelpful thinking, women can become more aware of what is going on and using the tools and techniques provided can start to make real changes in their cognitive thinking.

Using CBT to aid in depression

Many women can start to suffer from depression as a result of entering perimenopause and menopause. For anyone who has never suffered from depression, this can be alarming and distressing and for women who have suffered from depression before, it can cause them even greater distress.

CBT is an excellent tool for treating depression because it aims to reduce negative, harmful and unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. CBT can challenge the negative thinking that someone is having and can aid in rationalizing thoughts and behaviours.

There are numerous ways that CBT can aid in depression;

1. The ABC Analysis - This is where the behaviours that are related to the depression being experienced are broken down. This method can analyse the triggers and consequences of behaviour and can put new behaviours into play.

2. Cognitive Reconstructing - This is where unhealthy thought patterns and cognitive distortions are challenged and cognitive reconstructing is introduced to establish healthier thinking patterns and behaviour.

3. Fact-checking - Here thoughts and beliefs will be checked to establish their validity. Damaging or destructive thoughts will be challenged and these thoughts can be studied to see why they exist.

4. Thought Journaling - This is used to help a person identify potential triggers to their thoughts and behaviour and to aid coping strategies and self-awareness

5. Behavioural Activation - This is a great way to prepare yourself for completing activities that will motivate you and challenge you. Often when a person is suffering from depression they feel unmotivated and can’t cope with many activities in life. This technique helps the person to overcome these symptoms and be more proactive and positive.

What are the health benefits of CBT?

CBT can have many health benefits. What affects the mind can also affect the body, and stress and anxiety can have many detrimental effects on the body. Stress can cause a lack of sleep which can affect physical and mental health. It can also cause stomach ulcers and can lead to heart problems, strokes and cancer.

Using CBT can benefit all of these health issues, changing negative thinking and damaging behaviour and instilling positive thinking and behaviour which can make you healthier, happier, calmer more productive.

Using CBT for hot Flushes

Hot flushes can be embarrassing and emotionally distressing. They can increase stress and anxiety and can leave a woman feeling withdrawn and self-conscious.

The mind and body work in tandem and what affects one will trigger the other. This is the case with hot flushes. The stress and anxiety that they can cause as well as loss of sleep can all start to have an effect emotionally.

When dealing with hot flushes, CBT works on the emotional effects for a woman. The stress and anxiety that she can experience. It aids in alleviating stress and anxiety and introducing different and more helpful thinking patterns.

CBT will not be able to get rid of the physical effects of hot flushes but it will be able to help with the emotional, distressing side of hot flushes.

How does mindfulness help menopause?

Mindfulness, like meditation, can have a very calming, relaxing and restorative effect on the mind and body and can be especially helpful to women during perimenopause and menopause.

Mindfulness, is all about being in the present moment, mentally and emotionally. Instead of dwelling on issues and thoughts from the past or worrying about the future, it’s concentrated on the here and now.

The aim of mindfulness is not to empty the mind like you would whilst meditating but to observe the thoughts that you are having.

After the thoughts have been observed a pause is then taken to observe thoughts and emotions in a non-judgemental way.

This technique can help to reduce stress and anxiety. Taking time out to acknowledge the thoughts and behaviours and evaluate the effects that they are having and then releasing negative emotions can all help a person become calmer and more relaxed.

Can Counselling help with menopause?

Counselling and coaching can both be very beneficial for women suffering from menopause symptoms.

Many times the symptoms that a woman feels can be strange, confusing and worrying. Many women will believe that the symptoms that they are experiencing may be related to other more serious illnesses and can feel scared or embarrassed to discuss them with their family or friends. Discussing them with a counsellor or coach can be less distressing or embarrassing as they have no connection to them.

Coaches and counsellors are trained to listen and give practical advice and support. They can also have many tools and aids that can be of benefit during this stage in a woman’s life.

Using a life coach can be a real benefit to many suffering through menopause. Having someone to talk things through with and who is there to listen to you and offer support and encouragement can make all the difference at this time.

Having someone who can offer a different perspective on what is happening and who can supply you with the tools and techniques that you can take with you and apply to your unique situation. A life coach can help you to see and understand that you are not going crazy, that this is happening to you but can offer you ways to come through this chapter of your life more robust and better equipped to face any challenges head-on.

Final Thoughts

Perimenopause and menopause can be a debilitating and distressing time for many women. There can be a range of symptoms that they can suffer from that can make life difficult to live with.

Adopting a holistic approach to menopause can aid in alleviating many of the symptoms and the use of CBT is one such practice.

CBT and the power it has in being able to change a person's thinking and behaviour can be very helpful. CBT can be used to aid in stress and anxiety, depression, hot flushes and sleep disruption.

Applying CBT techniques can challenge unhelpful and harmful thinking and can supplant new and more positive thoughts resulting in a change in behaviour that is more helpful and productive.

Employing the help of a counsellor or life coach can also help in tackling the symptoms of menopause. They will often be skilled in using CBT practices and can show you tools and coping strategies to help you in transitioning through this stage of life.

The most important thing is to not suffer alone. There are many ways in which menopause symptoms can be treated.

Reaching out and getting helpful advice is the first thing that anybody experiencing menopause symptoms should do. If you would like to find out more about how coaching can aid in treating symptoms then click on the link dealing with menopause symptoms.

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