October hosts both World Mental Health Day and Menopause Awareness Day and is indeed Menopause Awareness Month. The theme this year is Lifestyle Medicine and so I am focussing in this podcast episode on the impact that menopause can have on our mental health, and sharing a basic understanding of what is going on that is causing the low mood, anxiety, brain fog and other cognitive and mental health challenges that some women experience during perimenopause. During the hormonal transition, our brain is doing it's best to function without the steady hormonal chemistry that it is used to working with, the fluctuation of hormones during this chapter seems to be the issue - the rise and fall that changes day by day - and not forgetting that those hormones do not work in isolation but impact on other hormones and the work that they do too. I've tried to explain what is happening in a straightforward way, as a midlife woman who has experienced this transition, and as someone who has done lots of research and learning, but not as a medical professional might. I think we need to understand what is happening and why that is the case, but we don't need a science heavy biology lesson that confuses us further, so I've tried to keep it simple and easy to understand. Over the next few weeks I am going to be looking at the 6 Lifestyle Levers that we can all tweak and learn more for ourselves how that lifestyle medicine can help, whether you are taking HRT or not. I'm also offering a free online Masterclass that you are welcome to register for too - details can be found on the website Hope this helps!