Overcoming Worry, Anxiety and Overwhelm

There is no question that perimenopause and menopause can be a rollercoaster ride. Physical symptoms are commonly associate with menopause, things like hot flushes, night sweats, weight gain, vaginal dryness, and sleep issues.  ​ What’s less recognised though, are the very real psychological changes that come from fluctuating and decreased levels of hormones.  ​ As we lose the protective cover of (psycho-protective) estrogen we become more sensitive to stress, leading to a chronically elevated level of cortisol, which in turn suppresses our happy “feel good” hormones - namely serotonin and oxytocin and our warm and fuzzy endorphins.  ​ This shift in hormones can lead to an increase in anxiety, low mood and depression, which many women may experience for the first time, ​ or an increased susceptibility for those who have previously experienced this. ​  ​ So if you’ve found yourself being bothered or upset by things that wouldn’t normally affect you.... ​ Or  ​ You're feeling irritable and want to rip someone’s head off… then there’s a few things I’d like you to try.  ​ ​ First up - be kind to yourself and cut yourself some slack. There is a LOT going on in your life right now. ​ It’s OK to feel what you feel.  ​ If worrying is ruling your life or causing you anxiety, try this powerful technique that I was introduced to by the wonderful mindset coach and hypnotherapist Elaine Benson.  ​ This allows you to dodge the dilemmas before they happen and realise that most of the fears you do have, are not the big scary monsters they were in your head.  ​ ​ OK, here we go!  ​ Grab a large piece of paper and draw 4 columns. ​ Column 1:  Brain dump - Empty your head of all your worries and number them. ​ ​ Column 2:  For each of the worries - what the worst thing that can happen if it was to materialise? Sometimes even just doing this step helps you realise that even if the worst were to happen, you would be ok, and that alone can take the pressure off. ​ ​ Column 3:  For each worst-case scenario, write out what you can do to prevent it from happening. This then becomes a bit of a to-do list with action steps to prevent the problem. Now instead of just worrying about what could go wrong, you have action steps. ​ ​ Column 4:  Now beside each worry, ​ write about what you can do if the problem were to happen? This takes away your stress, as you have a now have a backup plan! ​ ​ While this seems super simple, it's an incredibly powerful technique that drastically reduces your anxiety as you have covered off the 'not knowing' and ' worst-case scenarios'.  ​ This allows you to build your confidence to know that you can handle anything and that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for! ​

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