Session 3: Managing sleep and stress during the menopause
Introduction
Welcome to Session 3, where you will be looking at the thorny problem of getting enough sleep in menopause.
As you have seen, menopause can come at a time when people are extra busy caring for others while at the same time trying to work and maintain a happy home. Menopause then introduces additional physical stress as the body tries to find equilibrium, and emotional stress as it tries to not only cope with the effects of menopause, but also accommodate the idea of entering a new phase in life. With menopause, many find that getting a good night’s sleep, or any sleep at all, can be immensely difficult.
In the next sections, you will learn about how changes to a person’s biochemistry can make sleep difficult during the menopause and how stress can make these problems worse.
At the end of this session, you should be able to:
- appreciate the effects of poor sleep and why sleep can be problematic in the menopause
- consider sleep hygiene and what you can do to improve both the quantity and quality of your sleep
- appreciate the effects of stress, and why stress can be worse in menopause
- find practical strategies to help reduce sources of stress and the impact it can have.