Why Aren’t Peri-Menopause and Menopause Being Diagnosed Properly?

I cannot count the amount of times I have read or heard that a doctor has told a woman, who is in perimenopause or menopause, that they have a mental health issue and given medication for it. Or they need to go on the pill. Or the go to with a lot of doctors “you need to lose weight”. If you don’t believe me, there is a whole thread about it on Threads. Only for the woman to go back to the doctor months later with worsening symptoms.

Plus, not only are we made to feel like feeling the way we do is our fault, but we are also made to feel guilty about it too. On top of that, Boomers are telling us to “just get on with it, like we had to!”. It’s no wonder a lot of women are leaving it until they can’t cope anymore to seek help.

In fact, nearly half of women seeking help for menopause symptoms are already experiencing clinically significant distress by the time they ask for support, according to a new national benchmark report. The findings paint a stark picture of menopause being recognised too late, with many women arriving to their doctor as already exhausted, mentally depleted and struggling to function across work, relationships and daily life.
Far from being limited to hot flushes, above and beyond high-risk symptoms such as heart palpitations, debilitating migraines and dizziness, the most common moderate-or-above symptoms were: Fatigue (75.2%), Poor concentration/brain fog (64.6%), Low libido (62.9%), Forgetfulness (59.6%), Feeling overwhelmed (59.1%), Sleep disturbance (58.5%) and Anxiety (54.2%).
Metluma’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Nicole Avard said the report exposes how often menopause is still misunderstood, minimised or mistaken for unrelated problems.
“Too many women are being told they are stressed, burnt out, anxious or simply not coping, when menopause may be sitting at the centre of it all,” Dr Avard said. “By the time many seek help, they are not mildly inconvenienced. They are depleted, distressed
and wondering what has happened to them.” “This is not a niche issue. It is affecting women’s health, confidence, relationships, careers and economic participation.”
The report found menopause symptoms are colliding with women’s highest-responsibility years. Poor concentration peaked among women aged 40 to 44, often a life stage associated with career progression, leadership pressure and caregiving load. Work (30.4%) and primary
relationships (31.1%) were the areas of life most commonly reported as impacted.
CEO and Co-founder of Metluma Georgie Drury said menopause remains one of Australia’s most underestimated productivity and wellbeing issues.
“For many women, this is happening while they are leading teams, raising families, caring for others and carrying peak responsibility,” Ms Drury said. “When support is absent, the costs do not vanish. They show up in absenteeism, disengagement, relationship strain, lost confidence and women stepping back at the very point they should be thriving.”
The report also found menopause stage was a stronger predictor of symptoms than age alone, with 77.8% of symptoms varying significantly by stage, challenging simplistic age-based assumptions about when menopause starts and ends, prompting a call by experts to update guidelines to consider this crucial aspect.
One patient, senior executive Michelle, 48, spent over six months identifying what she was experiencing. “All I wanted to do was quit my job and bake sourdough. I couldn’t concentrate, I was exhausted, anxious and snapping at people I love,” she said. “Once I understood what was happening, everything changed. Having language for it and proper support gave me my confidence back.”
Dr Avard said that whilst awareness around perimenopause and menopause had increased following the Senate inquiry last year, there are still major gaps that women are falling through as highlighted in this latest report.

As a summary, if you feel like you aren’t being heard or you aren’t getting answers to your issues, push your doctor to take you seriously or get a second option.