From film stars, celebrities, and politicians to cultural movies and web series on famous OTT platforms, people’s point of view on menopause is changing with the times.
Today, India is emerging as a country where the emotional and physical fallouts of menopause are being openly discussed. The word that once was regarded as a social stigma is no longer a hush-hush subject.
Now that women can talk about their menopause without feeling shame, remedies to cope with it are also being brought to light. Diet, yoga, and homeopathy are a few ways to handle the menopause retreat.
Renowned People Share Their Opinion
Women from various fields have expressed their opinions on menopause, its consequences, and people’s reactions to it.
Popular web series like “Bombay Begums,” “Four More Shots Please,” and “Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives” have discretely portrayed how the onset of menopause can change the life of a woman.
Shweta Bachchan-Nanda, who is a part of her daughter Navya Nanda’s sensational podcast show, “What the Hell Navya,” shared in the last episode, “If I am in a bad mood, and I shout at my children, they will say, ‘Oh, mom is menopausing today.’ That is not fair. For you, it’s a joke, but think about it for me, everything is going south.”
Menopause Is A Struggle And A Stigma
A woman deals with anxiety, cramps, body aches, and mood swings every month until her period permanently stops between the ages of 40 and 50. Even then, her body is not free of the pain. With the onset of menopause, the majority of women struggle with depression, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety, weight gain, hot flashes, and many more awful symptoms.
A 51-year-old woman, unwilling to reveal her identity, claimed that she traveled from Switzerland to India in search of medicine to cure her menopause-induced restlessness and anxiety. She said, “I was physically and mentally tired most of the time. It will be safe to use the word – powerless. I felt emotionally unstable, fatigued.”
Menopause is not just a personal struggle for the female crowd. Women can hardly talk about the distressing physical transitions they go through and the toll it takes on their emotional and mental health. And this is mostly because society is ashamed to have a free conversation about a woman’s body.
As a result of the lack of communication, nobody tells them what to do or how to deal with the sudden changes in their body. Menopause is one such natural phenomenon that needs to be normalized as a topic for discussion where a woman is provided with help to cope with her menopausal phase.
However, the situation is changing in India. Menopause is not a social stigma anymore. Achitha Jacob is the founder and CEO of a start-up in Bangalore called “Proactive For Her,” which works for the sexual and menstrual health of women.
She claims, “Today, the social stigma and awkwardness associated with discussing menopause or other ‘women’s problems’ has significantly decreased if compared to the 20th century or even the first decade of the 21st century.”
Also Read: SexED: Imagine Hitting Menopause At 29!
Remedies And Help
Various startups, organizations, and retreat centres have come up with solutions to help women deal with their menopausal phase.
The Palace Estate of the Maharaja of Tehri-Garhwal at Ananda, Uttarakhand, is a station for women that incorporates medical treatment, yoga sessions, and diet therapy in its health program to help them achieve inner peace with their bodies after menopause.
Dr. Jitendra Uniyal, an East Asian therapist who is a specialist in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Ananda, said in an interview, “Someone considering a preventive approach to the distressing symptoms of menopause later in life or to address existing symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, and other signs associated with either premenstrual stress or menopause can enrol for Ananda’s ‘Rebalance’ programme.”
Swathi Kulkarni, CEO and co-founder of the wellness program Elda Health, said, “A doctor has to do a separate course to specialise in menopause. It is not covered in detail as a part of the generic MBBS degree’s curriculum.”
She added, “We live in a society wherein puberty is pampered, pregnancy is celebrated but nothing much has been done or spoken about women who are over their reproductive age. That needs to change.”
Let us know your opinion in the comment section below.
Disclaimer: This article is fact-checked
Image Credits: Google Photos
Feature Image designed by Saudamini Seth
Source: The Print, The Wire & The Quint
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This post is tagged under: menopause, menstruation, periods, women, woman, feminism, health, physical well-being, mental health, retreats, menopause retreats, yoga, diet, food therapy, anxiety, insomnia, stress, panic, brain fog, weight gain, depression, mental illness, struggle, social stigma, web series, series, Netflix, Bombay Begums, Amazon Prime, Four More Shots Please, Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, feminism, celebrities, menopausal phase, Swathi Kulkarni, Shweta Bacchan-Nanda, Navya Nada, What the hell Navya, issue, social issue, society
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