THOUGHTS IN FOCUS 1st Edition

What Has Changed?

The Australian Government has launched the country's first-ever national Menopause and Perimenopause Campaign, marking a significant step forward in women's health. The campaign aims to provide women with trusted, evidence-based information about perimenopause and menopause, improve awareness of common symptoms, and help women feel more confident seeking support and treatment. The initiative follows recommendations from the Senate Inquiry into Menopause and Perimenopause, which highlighted that many women were entering this life stage without adequate information, support, or understanding of the changes they were experiencing. A dedicated online resource hub has also been launched to provide practical information, health resources, and guidance on accessing support.

What Does This Mean for Women?

For many women, this campaign represents long-overdue recognition of an important life stage that has historically received limited attention. Perimenopause and menopause can affect women in very different ways, with symptoms including hot flushes, sleep disturbance, fatigue, changes in concentration, joint pain, mood changes, and cognitive difficulties often referred to as "brain fog".

A common misconception is that menopause is a prolonged phase of life. Technically, menopause is a single point in time, reached once a woman has gone 12 consecutive months (365 days) without a menstrual period. Everything before that point is considered perimenopause, and everything after is post-menopause. While menopause itself is just one day, the perimenopausal transition can begin years earlier and, for some women, symptoms may persist for a decade or more before menopause is reached.

Alongside this campaign, there have also been significant improvements in access to treatment. Several menopausal hormone therapies have recently been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), including Prometrium® (micronised progesterone) and other commonly prescribed hormone therapies. These changes have substantially reduced the cost of treatment for many women, making evidence-based care more accessible and affordable. Since these medications were listed on the PBS, hundreds of thousands of Australian women have accessed lower-cost treatment options to help manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

By increasing public awareness, improving access to reliable information, and reducing barriers to treatment, the campaign aims to empower women to better understand their experiences, seek appropriate healthcare, and make informed decisions about treatment and support options. Importantly, it also helps normalise conversations about menopause and reduce the stigma that many women have reported experiencing.

What Does This Mean for Mental Health?

The campaign is particularly significant from a mental health perspective. Hormonal changes during perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause can have a substantial impact on emotional wellbeing, contributing to symptoms such as anxiety, low mood, irritability, reduced stress tolerance, sleep difficulties, and challenges with concentration and memory. For some women, these changes can affect relationships, work performance, self-confidence, and overall quality of life. By acknowledging the psychological as well as physical impacts of menopause, the campaign supports a more holistic understanding of women's health and reinforces the importance of seeking support when symptoms are affecting daily functioning. Increased awareness among healthcare professionals, families, workplaces, and the broader community may help women feel more understood, validated, and supported during this transition.

What Does This Mean for Neurodivergent Women?

Growing research suggests that hormonal changes during perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause may have a particularly significant impact on neurodivergent women. Fluctuations in oestrogen can influence neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which plays an important role in attention, motivation, emotional regulation, and executive functioning. As a result, many women report a worsening of autism and ADHD symptoms during perimenopause, including increased forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, overwhelm, emotional sensitivity, and reduced ability to manage daily demands. Women may also notice increased sensory sensitivities, reduced energy levels, greater difficulty with emotional regulation, decreased capacity to mask, and a lower tolerance for social demands.

For some women, the challenges experienced during perimenopause lead them to seek assessment for ADHD or autism for the first time, as lifelong coping strategies become less effective during this period of hormonal transition. For others who have already received a diagnosis, perimenopause can feel like "ADHD on hard mode" or a time when previously successful strategies suddenly stop working. 

Why This Matters

Perhaps one of the most important outcomes of this campaign will be greater recognition of the complexity of women's experiences during perimenopause. Many women have historically been labelled with anxiety or depression without consideration of the significant hormonal changes occurring during this life stage or the possibility that previously unrecognised autistic or ADHD characteristics may become more apparent. In my own clinical work, I frequently see women referred for anxiety or depression who, through deeper exploration, come to recognise the significant role that hormonal changes, neurodivergence, or the interaction between the two may be playing in their experiences. Increased awareness among healthcare professionals may help women receive more accurate and timely assessment, better-informed treatment, and the validation that their experiences are real, multifaceted, and deserving of careful consideration. It can also empower women to advocate for themselves and seek support that addresses the full picture, rather than treating symptoms in isolation. Understanding the interaction between hormones, neurodivergence, and mental health can help replace years of self-blame with self-understanding and self-compassion.

Importantly, this does not mean that psychological support is any less valuable. Regardless of whether symptoms are driven by hormonal changes, neurodivergence, mental health concerns, or a combination of factors, therapy can provide a space to better understand these experiences and develop strategies to navigate them. Psychological intervention may assist with emotional regulation, managing anxiety and overwhelm, improving self-compassion, adjusting to changing identity and life roles, navigating relationships, reducing burnout, and developing practical coping strategies to support wellbeing throughout the perimenopausal and menopausal transition.