Thirty years into a very successful corporate career, Janelle Delaney suddenly lost her confidence.
She was preparing for an important interview to become an executive in her company, but found she couldn’t concentrate and began spontaneously crying. She worried she’d burst into tears on the day.
“[It] was horrendous. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced,” she tells RN’s This Working Life.
When Ms Delaney visited her doctor, the diagnosis was simple.
“The hormonal imbalance of perimenopause [the lead-up to menopause] meant I couldn’t deal with this very out-of-the-ordinary stressful situation I was in, in the same way that I usually would have,” she says.
“It was something I’d never heard talked about in my workplace … [and] I really didn’t know what sort of reaction or support I would get if I spoke out about it.”
Once Janelle understood what was happening and received appropriate treatment, her symptoms subsided and she got the promotion.
But the significant symptoms of menopause can see women miss out on job opportunities, leave their roles altogether or suffer at work in silence.
Some women argue that discussing the effects of menopause only increases their exposure to sexism and ageism in the workplace.
Others say without talking about it, many women will continue to face barriers holding them back in their careers.
Menopause (when monthly menstruation has ceased for 12 months), and perimenopause, cause fluctuating hormone levels. And those pesky hormones are responsible for a range of symptoms.
They might include hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, weight gain, mood changes, anxiety, depression, brain fog and weakened short-term memory.
Melissa MacGowan’s menopause symptoms – sleepless nights, hot flushes in meetings and increased anxiety – were so challenging, she left her leadership role because of them.
“I was the only female on a team of six male executives, in a pretty male dominated industry and environment [and] my first instinct in that situation was to keep things relatively to myself,” Ms MacGowan says.
“I played my cards pretty close to my chest. I [didn’t want] to be seen to be having additional challenges.”
She felt isolated and the stress of dealing with her situation became too high to sustain.
But with adequate support, she says she could have moved through perimenopause “without it being such a debilitating and negative, crushing experience”.
