Pilar Guzman| Mental Health During Menopause and Perimenopause

And in my research on joy, one of the most important, if not the most important factor in long-term happiness, it's your relationships.

That's right.

And this book really dives into how these symptoms, this change can impact the people that you love the most and your relationships.

And that's the thing that really matters the most to people.

Absolutely.

I think that's right.

And particularly for spouses, children, anybody, colleagues, it's really important that people get informed so that they understand.

I think this phase of life has obviously lived under a cloak of shame for time immemorial.

So I think the more we normalize the conversation, the easier it is to say like, I'm just having a really rough day and I can't find my words or whatever it is, if that's for a colleague.

And if there's a huge uptick, as you know, this is your area of specialty, depression, anxiety, things like that, that seem to come out of nowhere for people who don't have a history of depression or anxiety.

Obviously, for those who do, it can intensify that.

So, you know, and some of these symptoms, because I think for so long until very recently, we associated menopause just with, you know, hot flashes, which of course is just the tip of the iceberg.

And as I often say, I hope for people to have visible, obvious symptoms so that they address the issues and get the treatment that they need.

I think oftentimes I hear from women that they sort of like, well...

I didn't have the hot flashes, so I don't think I need hormones.

And that is absolutely not the case.

Well, I felt really honored to be a part of the book because in a lot of the conversations around menopause, you typically see gynecologists or functional medicine doctors.

But psychiatry really isn't a part of the conversation.

Although some of the first symptoms having to do with perimenopause and menopause are the cognitive symptoms.

Yeah.

The moodiness, the irritability, the lack of sleep, the brain fog.

But I think that often people get misdiagnosed and they start antidepressants.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But I think largely doctors and clinicians overlook that these symptoms overlap.

And many times it really is the feeling overwhelmed at work.