One of the biggest challenges I had moving forward after my hysterectomy was not only the physical challenges but the mental ones. My mind felt like it was going a million miles an hour sometimes or I would overthink to the point of tears or even anger. I had moments where I was talking but felt like I was having an out of body experience because the emotion I was projecting and my words were so out of character for me, but I couldn’t stop it. So what came first on my list of how to get menopause to slow its roll? My mental health. I had to decide that in order for anything else to be successful my mind had to be right. For me, this entailed lengthy discussions with a therapist. Some of you may ask how I went from being “ok” before to now needing a therapist? In my particular case I found I could deal with most of life’s challenges by just focusing on the positive, my children and making sure my home life was good. There are always disagreements and clashes in everyday home life but I felt there was pretty solid communication and a sense of team work. Fast forward to year one of menopause and I felt like every little thing would set me off, it’s like I was on this emotional roller coaster and even though there were slower bends on the track, I couldn’t seem to put on the breaks on the loops and steep drops that would ultimately have me losing my cool. What I came to realize is that we mums do a great job of balancing, acquiescing and putting others first that we lose sight of how it effects us emotionally (because we have to move on, too much to do). So when I hit menopause it’s like I had no buffer anymore, what came into my brain and out of my mouth was truly how I felt in that moment. I felt like I had no control. Hence therapy. I learned a lot about myself and it helped me to find a better voice, learn coping skills when I felt out of control and later on would teach me to meditate and take time to slow myself down.
In the next post we will be talking about open communication with your OBGYN relating to mental health and being vulnerable with where you are at.
Love & Light!
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