The Connection Between Menopause and Anger
Just when you think your age and the hormonal changes to your body mean you can wave a grateful goodbye to PMS, you learn that a similar issue can be part of your menopause journey.
This is not just bad news for you – it can be very bad news for your friends and family, depending on whether your roller coastering hormones present you with slightly increased levels of irritation, or Incredible Hulk-style personality changes.
I find it weird how these hormone-driven rages can come over me. In my case, when I was younger I suffered less with what you could describe as PMS than outright inexplicable fury, and the same goes for my menopause anger. It's like I'm observing someone else ranting and raving, and I am fully aware of how unreasonable I am being most of the time. I want to stop the fury emitting from my mouth, but all I can do is let it run its course, then apologize profusely afterwards, citing my hormones yet again.
Sometimes my husband says it's quite amusing – I have taken to shouting at the TV and writing letters to editors expressing my anger over something I have seen in the news. Let's put it this way –tolerance is not my middle name at the moment! He's less amused when my unreasonable roars are directed at him for no particular reason apart from that he is there.
When you learn that almost half of all menopausal women report mood swings and anger among their symptoms, it's a wonder the divorce rate isn't even higher than it already is! And the moods are generally triggered by seemingly insignificant events. Woe betide the man in your life who leaves the toilet seat up, or the person who forgets to wash up or take their PE kit to school.
Anger might not be your main emotion – you might feel powerless, sad, weepy or just "not yourself."
It probably doesn't really help to know that the mood swings are caused by fluctuating seratonin – the chemical in the brain which controls emotion. When you want to strangle the slow waitress or you suddenly develop all-consuming road rage when someone forgets to indicate, you are probably more concerned about treating the symptoms. Read this quickly, before you batter your partner with the mug they placed on the coffee table WITHOUT A COASTER!
