Insomnia, mental fog, irritability… Women’s mental health can sometimes be severely tested, especially during periods of hormonal change such as menopause. To this day, the medical community often—and wrongly—associates these symptoms with depression. The solution: develop treatments specific to these conditions that affect so many women. How many clinical trials in Canada are currently evaluating therapeutic approaches to mental health for postmenopausal women? Just one. You read that right—just one.
BMO Private Wealth hosted an October 10 panel discussion entitled “Favoriser la réussite et la santé mentale des femmes” (Enabling women’s mental health and success) where three panelists from the fields of science and business shared their mental health experiences. Candid and lively discussion quickly turned to menopause and found an attentive—and mostly female—audience.
This luncheon took place as part of BMO’s commitment to championing women in the company. “In Quebec, the bank’s management team is 60% women,” said Mario Rigante, the Eastern Canada Regional President for BMO Private Wealth. Best of all, BMO is one of ten companies around the world that have won two Catalyst Honours, which recognize efforts that accelerate progress for women in the workplace.
Taking care of those who take care of us
Cloé Caron, a coach, entrepreneur and author (and the panel moderator) kicked off the discussion by citing a statistic that elicited murmurs from the audience: only 3% or 4% of all health research is specifically focused on women.
This has consequences, said Dr. Isabelle Boileau, senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Brain Health Imaging Centre in Toronto. “Sex and gender are determinants of health,” said Boileau, “and ignoring it can cause a lot of damage.” For example, just 30 years ago, post-partum depression was not even recognized, and women suffered in silence. The stigma around it has since been overcome and researchers are looking into it. Now, instead of treating post-partum depression with conventional antidepressants, doctors have access to specialized drugs that are approved in the United States and may be approved in Canada. “The fact that we have moved from a taboo, unrecognized disease to developing a drug to treat it in such a short span of time is a giant step forward,” Boileau said.
This drug—a neurosteroid—is now undergoing clinical trials to treat menopausal and perimenopausal disorders as well. “We’re trying to understand what’s going on in the brain during this period of hormonal change,” said Boileau.
For journalist Julie Gobeil, editor-in-chief of Châtelaine Magazine, all this research matters because it can both help women better understand themselves and be better understood, especially since perimenopause, which lasts about 10 years, often comes at a time when women have managed to climb corporate ranks and occupy high-level positions. “Then, all of a sudden, symptoms emerge,” she said, and mentioned widely dreaded three-a.m. sleeplessness as an example.
Three of the five most common symptoms of menopause are related to mental health, according to a 2023 Châtelaine survey of 200 women. Insomnia is one, but so is mental fog—being at a loss for words, memory loss, difficulty concentrating—as well as the irritability that inevitably follows. “When it comes to irritability, society tends to make us feel guilty, because a woman is supposed to be nice, and a mom is supposed to be understanding. If that’s not the case, you’re quickly accused of suffering from mom rage,” she said. “Yet when a dad gets angry, do others say that he suffers from dad rage?”
Know yourself to understand yourself
What’s her advice? Practice calm when these symptoms arise and be kind to yourself. And since women often bear the mental burden on their own, share it with your spouse (if you have one). “And it’s worse if you have kids. It just adds another layer,” said Gobeil. Isabelle Randez, Director of External Communications at L’Oréal Canada agrees wholeheartedly. She knows all about insomnia and mental fog but she doesn’t know whether these symptoms are due to perimenopause or to her two young children and a husband who travels for work every second week. Mental load, you say? “I’ve always had a fantastic memory. But now, I have to put reminders in my calendar if I don’t want to forget things,” Randez said. “My to-do list is as long as my arm, to the point where I often feel like I’m not doing anything right. It’s a source of stress, of anxiety.”
L’Oréal Canada uses advice from the Canadian Menopause Society to help women—who make up 63% of its staff—cope with their menopause. “We accommodate women so they can all come to work and feel like they are doing their best. We offer flexible schedules and encourage healthy conversation about menopause symptoms to remove stigmas and taboos,” Randez said.
And perhaps also to reassure women about the state of their mental health, since forgetting a word or losing your train of thought does not signal the beginning of dementia. At least, not necessarily, said Dr. Boileau. “It depends on the case. Do my issues mean I am headed for dementia or are they symptoms of perimenopause? We don’t yet have a clear answer since there are no longitudinal studies on the subject. That’s why we have to dig deeper into this phenomenon, to distinguish between pathology and a perfectly normal condition.”
But getting there will take more than just one study.
