Menopause should be de-stigmatised, and the workforce should be aware of its symptoms.
Authors
Sonam Chawla, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Vinayak A. Drave, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
Menopause occurs when a woman has not had her period for a year and cannot conceive. Menopause symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, sleep loss, mood changes, weariness, bone and joint pain, headaches, disorientation, and depression. They usually begin between 45 and 55 but can begin sooner in certain circumstances, leading to distractibility, decreased concentration, and even irrational behaviour. These circumstances can be embarrassing for family, friends and co-workers.
According to gynaecologist Dr Shantaya Mukherjee, menopause includes three phases: Pre-menopause lasts one year after the last period and five years before menopause. The next phase, menopause, begins after a year without a period, and the final stage, post-menopause, lasts the rest of a woman’s life after her last period. In these three phases, a woman spends more than half her life.
Despite its length, intensity, and obstacles, menopause is rarely mentioned. Women’s health is a neglected subject; it only appears to be publicly discussed during pregnancy and childbirth. By 2025, more than one billion women, or 12 per cent of the world’s population, will be in menopause, but most women dismiss their symptoms and health problems as trivial.
Menopause is one of “those things” in society that women have traditionally been expected to handle silently. Women avoid talking about it because of the stigma associated with menopause, ageism and concomitant symptoms, which can lead to prejudice and being labelled as elderly. Women in menopause are represented as emotional, “hormonal”, and irritable. Women do not desire these identities, particularly at work.
Published in: The Hindu Business Line
To read the full article, please click here.
