The Mental Health Cost of a Menopause No One Talks About.
- Vonayi Nyamazana
- May 22
- 2 min read
Last week was Mental Health Week and the theme is Community — yet for too many women in perimenopause and menopause, community is where the silence lives.
In our communities — especially among Black African and ethnic minority women — menopause is often wrapped in silence, shame, or worse, brushed off as “just part of life.” Add to that the anxiety, brain fog, low mood, and depression that can come with the hormonal rollercoaster of menopause — and it becomes a crisis hiding in plain sight.
And still, no one talks.
We’re expected to “cope.”
To pray it away.
To smile through it.
To hold everything together.
But what happens when the woman holding it all begins to fall apart?
Where is the community then?
Hot flushes don’t get women signed off work.
But panic attacks do.
Memory lapses do.
Feeling like a shadow of your former self? That’s not just hormones — that’s mental health.
We need to stop treating menopause as just a physical change.
It is emotional.
It is psychological.
It can feel spiritual.
And without supportive, informed communities, it can be devastating.
So here's my challenge to communities:
🔘Will you listen without judgment when a woman says, “I don’t feel like myself”?
🔘Will you ask deeper questions than “Are you okay?”
🔘Will you create spaces where women can talk about menopause without fear of being dismissed or labelled “too emotional”?
Because when community is silent, women suffer.
When community shows up, women heal.
Let’s change the narrative.
Let’s create real, inclusive, culturally aware spaces where menopause and mental health can coexist without shame.
If you're a woman navigating menopause and feeling the mental strain — you are not alone, and you shouldn't have to pretend you're fine.
Let's build a community where that truth is welcome.
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