Wisdom, Zest, and Other Joys of Menopause...

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Article URL: Article appearing on CBSHealthWatch.com

Wisdom, Zest, and Other Joys of Menopause

Mary Jane Horton, Medical Writer

Introduction

More than two decades ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead said, "There is no more creative force in the world than a menopausal woman with zest." It seems that we've all but forgotten this sentiment. Menopause, like childbirth, has been medicalized instead of being seen as a natural rite of passage. Until now.

A group of smart women--and doctors--are putting menopause in its rightful place. In 1998, the North American Menopause Society and The Gallup Organization conducted a phone survey of 752 postmenopausal women (ages 50-65). Fifty-one percent reported being happiest and most fulfilled between the ages of 50 and 65, compared to their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

In Sweden, a recent study found that menopause was a time of increased self-esteem for most women.

As Dr. Christiane Northrup says in her bible of women's health, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (Bantam Books, 1994), "No other stage of a woman's life has as much potential for understanding and tapping into women's power as this one--if, that is, a woman is able to negotiate her way through the general cultural negativity that has surrounded menopause ..."

"In many countries, menopause has long been a positive transition, like puberty," says Joan Borysenko, PhD, cofounder and former director of the Mind/Body Clinic, Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School. This is true, she says, not just in underdeveloped countries, but in places like Sweden, where a recent study found that menopause was a time of increased self-esteem for most women. In indigenous cultures, Borysenko adds, "The menopausal woman becomes the storyteller--a wise woman or crone--who often develops healing powers."

Dr. Carolle Jean-Murat, a Haitian-born, San Diego-based obstetrician/gynecologist and author of Menopause Made Easy: How to Make The Right Decisions for the Rest of Your Life (Hay House, 1999), says that in her culture, "The older you are, the wiser you are. I would go home and my grandmother would say, 'I don't care about your medical degree, I am telling you...' When you stop having a period you become a sage."

Collision with Youth Culture

When Gail Sheehy called menopause the "silent passage," she was right: For many years, this transition was only spoken about between a woman and her doctor, or among close friends. But as the baby boomer ranks grow so does the discussion about menopause.

Many women don't tap into the inner well that menopause can bring.

"We are hopefully going to change the concept of aging," says Borysenko, author of A Woman's Book of Life: The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle (Riverhead Books, 1997). "The blessings of midlife include a kind of fierce protectiveness of life, an intolerance for people and institutions that are selfish and out of touch, and a powerful increase in the vividness of dreams and intuition."

But the trouble is that many women don't tap into the inner well that menopause can bring. "Most middle class women in this country have hot flashes and feel like they are getting old and shriveled up," says Dr. Jean-Murat. "They are buying too heavily into a society that values youth at all costs."

According to Borysenko, even hot flashes can be positive. She says they represent a rebalancing of the life force energy that can help women burn off stress, rather than add to it.

It's a Mindset

Whether you welcome hot flashes or dread them has a great deal to do with your attitude. "Many of my patients say, 'My mother smoked, she was overweight, and she took hormones. I exercise, eat well, I want to see if I can do without them,'" says Dr. Jean-Murat.

Diane Anderson, 46, a special-education teaching assistant in Durham, New Hampshire, likens menopause to a train ride. "Everyone gets on the same train sooner or later. In my journey, life gets better and better. Rather than a loss, it has been empowering.

"I am more of a risk taker," says Anderson, who is pursuing a master's degree, and has started meditating and doing yoga. And while Anderson does get some hot flashes, she seems to take them in stride. "I think my attitude makes me better able to deal with them," she adds.

Alice Stamm, a New York Web site designer, didn't have quite the same upbeat attitude when she started menopause, but she came out with a whole new career. Stamm started a Web site called Power Surge in 1994 to help answer questions about the changes women experience during menopause. It was recently named one of the 25 best health sites by Health magazine.

"I started the site as a selfish act," says Stamm. "I needed answers about what was happening to me. I got on the Web to talk with other women. At that time I couldn't even call it menopause, that's why I coined the term 'power surge.'"

Stamm says that menopausal women should "be positive through the negative times." She thinks her Web site can help. "It is like someone putting their arms around you and making you feel better."

Mary Jane Horton is a freelance medical writer.

Reviewer: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Reviewed for medical accuracy by physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School. BIDMC does not endorse any products or services advertised on this Web site.

Reprinted from CBS HeathWatch by Medscape.

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