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Menopause at Work

— by Alyson Walsh

Kirsty Wark photo: Guardian

The lack of awareness of how menopausal symptoms can affect women in the workplace has been highlighted by a new study; carried out just down the road from me at King’s College Hospital. Myra Hunt emeritus professor of clinical health psychology told the Guardian that while policies to support pregnant women are the norm, the menopause remains a taboo issue:

‘Often there’s a will to address this among managers but they just don’t know how to talk about it. Women want it to be raised if appropriate. They don’t want to be treated as ill, they just want some understanding and awareness of it.’

The Guardian uses a case study to support this: Angela Bonnett a 57-year-old senior project manager for a financial institution found mood swings and hot flushes were affecting her performance. The situation improved after she sent her 30-something male boss a link to an online feature outlining menopausal-related difficulties, this eased communication between the pair and raised her boss’ understanding of the issue.

I’ve suffered from tiredness, irritability, hot flushes and brain fog, but fortunately as a freelance journalist I do not have to attend regular board meetings, represent clients in court or wear a uniform. But there are over 3.5 million women aged between 50 – 65 in the workplace, in the UK (according to the Office for National Statistics) and so more openness and awareness and better communication is the way forward. After you…

There’s another feature on ‘How to handle menopause in the workplace’ HERE.

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The lack of awareness of how menopausal symptoms can affect women in the workplace has been highlighted by a new study; carried out just down the road from me at King’s College Hospital. Myra H…