It’s not a secret anymore—menopause at work

Everyone knows that all women, half of the world’s population, will go through a period of time (called perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause) during which an enormous number of physical and emotional changes occur. Women often have significant symptoms for over a decade, and still this topic is mum for a variety of reasons—misunderstandings about perimenopause, lack of recongnizing that changes are due to perimenopause, embarassment about symptoms, hopelessness that there are any effective sources of relief, and stigma around women being the “weaker sex”. Even I am hesitant to create this blog post; in no way am I implying that middle aged women are hindered in ANY way. They are still heroic mothers, professionals, soldiers, educators, overall pillars of our communities, and so much more. However, as a physician and a perimenopauseal woman, I can tell you they are accomplishing all this often while going through the harshest of physical and emotional conditions.

Of course this means work may be impacted, no differently than having diabetes, low back pain, or depression, for example, might impact one’s career. The Menopause Society is creating a program, Making Menopause Work, that is helping organizations and businesses optimize the enviroment for women. Take a look at their overview and drill down to review their consensus statement: https://menopause.org/workplace.

Both men and women experience significant changes in their hormone levels during their 40s, 50s, and 60s. The symptoms that occur range from mild to severe, but make no mistake, middle age is a rocky time for all. The compounding effects of concerning physical changes, increasing work and life demands of the “sandwich generation”, and fears about the second half of life all result in lower productivity, emotional distress and relationship tension, and lack of an overall sense of well-being. If we all share this common experience, it benefits workplaces to recognize and address workplace optimization for its middle aged employees.