MINDFULNESS MAY HELP WITH MENOPAUSAL DEPRESSION

Psychotherapy and mindfulness techniques could help many women who experience depression during menopause, according to a review of existing research.

 

Too few studies have looked at whether cognitive therapies are good alternatives for women who can’t or don’t want to use pharmaceutical treatments to offset the symptoms of menopausal depression, but the handful that have done so have mostly shown positive results.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy helps patients change the way they think and feel to lead more productive lives. Behavioural therapy focuses more on modifying actions to stem self-destructive behaviour. Mindfulness meditation helps patients to better tolerate and deal with stress.

 

In 2013 Dr Sheryl M Green [pictured left], co-author of The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Menopause, and her colleagues searched 5,126 studies and found only two on the use of cognitive, cognitive-behavioural or mindfulness therapies for women with major depression during menopause. Both studies showed that women improved after cognitive-behavioural therapy. In the first study, half of the 169 menopausal women who had 16 sessions of individual therapy were much less depressed afterwards and 25 per cent were no longer depressed at all. Women were also much less depressed after 16 sessions of a two-hour, twice-weekly group therapy in a second study with 44 participants.

 

In 2014 Green’s team broadened its search, including studies that looked at depression as one of several menopausal symptoms and came up with 12 more.

Women tended to feel less depressed after therapy involving education, coping skills and muscle relaxation for menopausal symptoms in several of those studies. However, an educational seminar alone didn’t improve their moods. They also felt less depressed after mindfulness-based stress reduction and relaxation techniques, plus diaphragmatic breathing, according to studies on hot flashes and mood.

However, women didn’t always feel less depressed after cognitive therapies. In some cases, Green’s team writes, this might be because women need programs geared toward their specific physical issues, such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, and feelings about going through the transition.

Some of the studies in the review were small, the authors caution, and did not include enough follow-up, didn’t have a comparison group or included only women who were mildly depressed. These limitations and the fact that there wasn’t much research to begin with mean more is needed, the authors say. 'Even though the literature is still in its infancy with establishing cognitive-behavioural therapy as an effective treatment for menopausal symptoms, and menopausal depression more specifically, cognitive-behavioural therapy has received empirical support and high acceptability for over three decades with many mental health and physical difficulties,' Dr Green says. 'With its low-risk nature, it is something that I continue to practise with menopausal patients who cannot or choose not to take medication---with suceess.'

 

 

Resource: Green SM, Key BL, and McCabe RE. ‘Cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, and mindfulness-based therapies for menopausal depression: A review.’ Maturitas. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2014.10.004

 

 

 

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org

 

 

 

MINDFULNESS AND MENOPAUSE

Women with severe hot flushes (more commonly known in the USA as hot flashes, or night sweats if they happen at night) said their quality of life improved after taking mindfulness classes that included meditation and stretching exercises, according to a new study led by Dr James Carmody (pictured opposite).

The findings also suggest that such classes could help improve sleep quality, stress and anxiety in women during menopause.

All of this would be very good news for Bree Van de Kamp from Desperate Housewives. See this YouTube clip:

In 2002, the Women's Health Initiative study found that the hormone therapy used to relieve menopause symptoms increased women's risk of stroke and breast and ovarian cancers slightly. Since then, women who suffer from hot flashes and night sweats during menopause have been left with few ways to get relief.

"There's a broad range of attitudes about hot flashes and how they should be treated," Dr Ellen Freeman, a menopause expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

"There are certainly many, many women who don't want to take hormones ... and don't want to take other drugs either," said Freeman, who was not involved in the current study. Mindfulness, on the other hand, "may be something that they find very acceptable."

Women with frequent and severe hot flushes often also complain about anxiety and stress related to their symptoms, as well as trouble sleeping.

Researchers based at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester wanted to see if a teaching such women mindfulness, which has been shown to relieve stress, might help. They enrolled 110 women, nearly all of them white, with at least 5 or more bothersome hot flushes each day.

The women were randomly assigned to 2 groups. In one, participants went to weekly 2.5-hour mindfulness classes focusing on body awareness, meditation, and stretching. They also received CDs to guide them through mindfulness activities on their own on the days when they didn't have classes. Women in the second group, used for comparison, were put on a waiting list and had no mindfulness classes during the study, which lasted 8 weeks.

At the beginning of the study, the women had about 8 hot flushes a day and 3 night sweats each night, and were somewhere between "moderately" and "extremely" bothered by their symptoms, according to questionnaire responses. They also reported trouble sleeping and had anxiety and stress scores considered above the normal range in healthy people.

By the time they finished the mindfulness program, the women were less stressed and anxious and were no longer considered out of the normal range for those symptoms. They also slept better, rated their quality of life higher, and were less bothered by their hot flushes - an improvement that was still clear 3 months after women had completed the classes. At that point, the women were between "slightly" to "moderately" bothered by their hot flushes.

The women on the waitlist also got a little better, but didn't see as much improvement as those taking mindfulness classes.

Women in both groups had improvements in the intensity of their hot flushes, but women taking mindfulness classes did not improve any more than those on the waiting list according to the findings, which are published in the journal Menopause.

At the end of the program there was also no difference between the 2 groups in the frequency of their hot flushes. That suggests that these classes may be most useful for helping women cope with their hot flushes, rather than getting rid of the hot flushes themselves, the authors said.

The program presents a possibility for women with bothersome hot flushes who don't want to take hormones or medications such as antidepressants or over-the-counter treatments.

Here is a short YouTube clip attesting to the benefits during menopause of a stress relief program which includes meditation.

NOTE. This blog sets out a simple form of mindfulness sitting meditation.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org



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MINDFULNESS MAY HELP WITH MENOPAUSAL DEPRESSION