Are we all trying to be superwoman?

Stop trying to be a superhero...

I have recently had an interesting conversation with a lady going through the menopause. She was so worried about her symptoms. She was always busy looking after her family, being there for everyone and working full time in a stressful job.

Unfortunately a number of family and work problems knocked her for six and she now feels terrible. She is unable to focus, can’t make decisions, is tired, not sleeping and getting stress palpitations. She sensibly had her symptoms checked out by her doctor and was given a mild sedative. However, this has not helped and she doesn’t really want to go onto HRT.

Whilst talking to her I realised that she was definitely a woman who does too Much. Here she was going through the menopause, which we all know is a really stressful time for the body and mind, and she was so intent in trying to keep up with everything, support everyone else, and then feeling guilty that she wasn’t feeling well and that she was letting everyone down. All in all she had just added another level of stress onto her already stressed system!

We see this typical scenario here so often, day in day out.  I just want to jump up and shout, ‘Stop trying to be Superwoman!’ I actually did say this to one woman and she said that although it had made her laugh it had brought home how much pressure she had put on herself!

So, although we as women are fabulous at multi-tasking, the one time in our lives when we should give it a miss is during the menopause. Not an easy thing to do I know, but if you are in this situation look at your priorities and try and let the less important ones go. See my blog on I know I’m a bit of a nag but… where I talk about relaxation techniques.

Just remember if you don’t look after yourself first how can you look after anyone else!