Are you going through menopause? Perhaps you're experiencing symptoms such as low mood and anxiety? It's common to feel tearful and negative during this time. If you're struggling to cope with depression, hot flashes, and vaginal problems, it's important to speak to your doctor. The Vibrant Women's Health Centre specializes in hormone replacement therapy in Lafayette.

In this article, we will look at how your thoughts create your reality. Reframing what you think about yourself, your body, and life during the menopause can have a positive effect and can help you to navigate this difficult time in your life successfully.

Your thoughts create your life experiences and can cause symptoms of stress and anxiety. The realization that your thoughts control the way you act and interoperate your reality can be profound. Overthinking is the cause of stress and anxiety, as is worrying about what other people will think of you. Women often feel more self-conscious during menopause, especially if they're experiencing hot flashes.

To take back the control in your life, you must first get on top of your thoughts and change your thought patterns and the language you use when speaking to yourself in your mind. If you are struggling to cope with anxiety due to the menopause, you may like to try the following activity.

Task

1. Think of a time in the last week when you have felt anxiety. Briefly write about the situation. What happened? Where were you at the time? Who were you with? How did the situation occur?

2. Write down any thoughts and images that were going through your head at the time. What did you think about yourself or the situation? Write down all the thoughts you were having, don't sensor them. Write down both positive and negative thoughts.

3. Next, move on to your moods and emotions. Write down what you were feeling at the time? You may also like to rate the intensity of the emotion on a scale of 1-10.

4. Write down your behaviors. How did you cope with the situation? What helped you to get through it? Were you avoiding things, or were you proactively trying to deal with the situation and manage your emotions? It might be easier to write this section as an observer; what do you think other people would have seen you doing?

5. Now move on to any physical sensations. Write about what you were feeling in your body. How did you feel? Where did you feel the sensations?

After doing this exercise, you will see how the vicious circle of anxiety has developed. Now answer the following questions.

If I was in a similar situation again, what would I have done differently? How could I have calmed my anxiety down before it became too overwhelming? What were the triggers for my anxiety? Is this a situation that often repeats itself?

If the situation is one that often repeats itself and you feel trapped in a spiral of negative emotions and anxiety, then it is time to take a closer look at your triggers and come up with coping strategies.

Write a list of the positive steps you could take.

E.g., make an effort to change negative thoughts to positive ones as they come up.

Do some deep breathing before entering a situation that will potentially cause anxiety.

Try to make your list as specific and relevant to your situation as possible. Then when a similar situation arises, you will have coping strategies in place, which will allow you to feel better about yourself, and this, in turn, will cause you to have less anxiety. Keep practicing and be kind to yourself.