Strategies for Managing Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that can lead to persistent feelings of sadness or loss of interest, but it's important to remember that it's a challenge that can be overcome. It affects how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, but with the right support and resources, it's possible to find hope and healing.

The two most common forms of depressive disorders are major (clinical) depression and persistent depressive disorder (Dysthymia). Common symptoms of depression include sadness, lack of interest in things you once enjoyed, irritability, fatigue, and feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and pessimism, often accompanied physical symptoms.

Many women going through perimenopause or menopause can tell you that extreme shifts in hormonal levels often lead to feelings of depression. Whether it’s a new onset of depressive symptoms or exaggerated symptoms from an existing diagnosis, managing the mood swings along with other symptoms can, at times, feel very overwhelming.

It is only recently that the medical community created guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of perimenopausal depression.

Some of the challenges in evaluating perimenopausal depression are because several of the symptoms related to its hormonal changes overlap with common symptoms of depression and other menopausal symptoms that often present similarly.

Symptoms including, insomnia, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and mood problems are common during perimenopause and menopause.

The risk of developing symptoms related to depression is known to increase among women as they transition to menopause.