WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

Talking is good for your mental health. And talking about mental health is important. But starting a conversation isn’t always easy. Whether you’d like to talk to someone about how you’re feeling, or check-in with someone you care about, here are some tips that can help.

Talking about your mental health

Choose someone you trust to talk to  

This might be a friend, family member or a colleague. Or you might be more comfortable talking to someone you don’t know, for example, through a support helpline.

Think about the best place to talk

It’s important to choose a place where you feel comfortable enough to open-up. You might want to choose somewhere private where you’re less likely to be disturbed. You also might want to talk while you do an activity, like walking together.

Prepare yourself for their reaction

Hopefully, you will have a good experience when you open-up to someone. But there’s a chance that they may not react in the way you hope. This may be for different reasons, like they may be worried or not fully understand at first.  If that’s the case, try to give them time to process what you’ve told them. It might help to give them information to read to help them understand. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself.

Talking about their mental health

Find a good space to talk without distractions

If you’re worried about someone, try to find a place where you know you can have a conversation without being distracted. Make sure to give them your full attention. It might help to switch off your phone.

Listen and ask questions

Listening can be one of the most valuable ways to be there for someone. Show them that you’re actively listening by facing them, making eye contact, and not interrupting. Questions can help you clarify what they mean and also show that you’re actively listening. But make sure the questions are relevant to what they’re saying, and not changing the subject.

Ask how you can help

Ask how you can help or make suggestions, rather than telling them what to do next. They might want support with making a GP appointment, help around the house, or just for you to keep things normal and chat about what’s going on in your life.

Three oftern misdiagnosed symptoms of menopause

Depression

A lot of us can throw the word ‘depressed’ around when we’re feeling low or sad, but depression is an illness that can leave people feeling a range of things for a long period of time, such as sadness, hopelessness, poor sleep, no or low sex drive plus more.

Menopause can increase your chances of becoming depressed. However, hormone-related mood changes that come with menopause can sometimes be misdiagnosed as depression^.

Anxiety

Other mental health conditions such as anxiety can start to appear during the menopausal age, along with anger and irritability. One study showed, over a 10-year follow-up period, that there was a 9.1% increase in women who experienced anxiety compared to premenopausal level^.

Experiencing anxiety during menopause is actually common, so we suggest speaking to your GP if you’re around the menopausal age and you suddenly start having frequent anxiety. Other mental health conditions such as anxiety can start to appear during the menopausal age, along with anger and irritability. Experiencing anxiety during menopause is actually common, so we suggest speaking to your GP if you’re around the menopausal age and you suddenly start having frequent anxiety.

Chronic fatigue syndrome

This is a long-term illness which can leave you feeling extremely tired and run down, and can also cause disturbed sleep problems, dizziness, aches and pains, heart palpitations, and memory problems.

However, these symptoms can all be associated with the menopause which can make this diagnosis trickier. This is again due to a drop in female hormones, but if these symptoms are linked to the menopause, they can usually be treated with HRT^.