Mental health services too often fail to consider the impact of menopause on wellbeing and emotional health, potentially leaving women at a heightened risk of suicide, a study has argued.
The research by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) was focused on the suicide of a 56-year-old NHS worker. It concluded that menopause was not routinely considered as a contributing factor in women with low mood who are assessed by mental health services. Staff, too, often do not receive training in this area.
It highlighted that, often, a woman’s mid-life period “is a point of increased risk of mental health deterioration”, and women can also be “at increased risk of developing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders at or around menopause.”
Too often the impact of menopause can be dismissed as a contributing factor, it argued.
Menopause and suicide
Government appoints menopause employment champion
The HSIB recommended that the Royal College of Psychiatrists works with other relevant people and organisations “to identify the best way to consider menopause during mental health assessments”.
It also recommended that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates the available research relating to the risks associated with menopause on mental health “and if appropriate, updates existing guidance”.
Amber Sargent, national investigator, said: “Our investigation findings all point to one thing: that it is absolutely crucial that patients at risk of suicide and self-harm are given a holistic assessment, one that moves away from tick boxes. It is widely recognised, and our investigation provides further evidence, that narrow categorisation does little to predict and prevent the worst outcomes for patients and their families.”
Covid-19 vaccines and menstruation
Separately, research led by the University of Edinburgh has concluded that Covid-19 vaccines do not cause disruptions to women’s periods.
Catching Covid-19, it found, can cause changes to women’s menstrual cycles, such as missed or heavier periods. However, whether a woman has been vaccinated or not appears to make no difference to this, the study, published in the journal iScience, argued.
The researchers surveyed almost 5,000 pre-menopausal vaccinated women in the UK, in March 2021. The results found that 82% of women reported no menstrual changes. A total of 6.2% reported more disruption during their period cycles and 1.6% reported less. Around 10% reported changes, including cycle length and period regularity, as well as the amount of menstrual bleeding.
The researchers also looked at a wider group of 12,579 vaccinated and unvaccinated women. The results of this study found that vaccination alone did not lead to changes to periods.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
However, those who had had the virus did tend to report an increased risk of heavier bleeding, missed periods and bleeding between periods.
The researchers argued their findings were likely to provide further reassurance to women concerned about any potential impact of the vaccines on menstruation.
