Dr. Alyssa Dweck, Chief Medical Officer of Bonafide Health and Menopause Society certified practitioner

Well, and I'm glad they're-

So you are correct.

Mm-hmm

...

I'm glad they're finally recognizing that because it's something you go through as a woman and you don't realize it.

And because it wasn't talked about previously by doctors or really anyone else, we didn't really know we were in perimenopause potentially in our 40s and early 50s, and how it can make us overwhelmed by everyday life.

What else did the survey show? 'Cause this is the sixth annual State of Menopause survey that you've done.

Right.

Well, I think the most interesting thing is that there was a real change, uh, with an 8% increase in concerns about anxiety, depression, and mental health when compared to surveys in the past.

After all, think about estrogen and progesterone.

Mm-hmm.

They act throughout the body, and changes in these hormones not only result in physical discomfort like hot flashes or musculoskeletal joint pain, but they interrupt sleep.

Progesterone specifically is a calming hormone.

So when it's volatile and then really decreased, sleep can be horribly disrupted.

It also interferes with the production of various neurotransmitters in the brain that are feel-good chemicals like serotonin and dopamine.

So changes in hormones can result in mental health changes as, as a result of this.

One final thing is that existing anxiety and depression can become worse.

Mm-hmm.

Symptoms can become more noticeable with hormone changes.

So I think this is what really came out during the, uh, survey.