06 Feb Is it Depression or Hormonal Imbalance?
Low mood and feelings of depression can be common symptoms of both perimenopause and menopause. Depression and the onset of menopause share many of the same symptoms including fatigue, irritability, anxiety and difficulty concentrating. Due to this, many women can be misdiagnosed with depression and treated with anti-depressants when really they are suffering from a hormonal imbalance. Hormonal imbalances can be treated with Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy, which is a safe and effective way to eliminate depression in women going through menopause. A recent study has found that women without depression and aged between 45 and 60 has found that a year of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can help stop symptoms of depression emerging in women who are entering menopause or are in the early stages of post-menopause. The team found that HRT was more effective than placebo and seemed to have the most effect in women in the early stages of menopause. Additionally, they found that HRT reduced the proportion of women who experienced significant depressive symptoms from about one in three to about one in six, which is very significant. In the United Kingdom, HRT is already recommended to treat symptoms of low mood during menopause, so this study adds evidence by showing HRT can help improve mild mood symptoms. Studies show that depression affects nearly 20 million adults; therefore it is extremely important to pinpoint the exact cause of an individual’s depression in order for physicians to treat the individual correctly and successfully. It should be noted that HRT is successful in treating mild mood symptoms and not major depressive episodes.