![A sunlit kitchen garden in late summer, with a lavender armchair set among ripening beds](https://viacara.com/img/content/menopause-feature-light.webp) # Menopause and Perimenopause Menopause can change your mood, your sleep and how you feel about yourself. Find a professional who works with the emotional side, alongside your GP. You do not feel like yourself. Your mood turns without warning, sleep has gone, and words you have always known slip out of reach. If you are in your late forties or early fifties, menopause may be part of the answer. Menopause is a natural stage of life, not an illness. The years of change before your periods stop are called perimenopause, and the symptoms often start there. The emotional side is real, and NICE names talking therapy among the options for it. Sources: [NHS: menopause overview](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-1), [NICE NG23](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-6) ## What we are and what we are *not* We help you find a professional who works with the emotional and psychological side of menopause. That support runs alongside your GP and any medical treatment, including HRT. It never replaces them. If you think you have symptoms of menopause or perimenopause, the NHS advises contacting your GP first. A GP can talk through HRT and other medicines with you. We do not diagnose, and we do not give medical advice. Sources: [NHS: menopause symptoms](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-2), [NHS: menopause treatment](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-4) ## How it can *feel* Hot flushes and night sweats are the symptoms everyone has heard of. The ones that bring people to us are quieter. The NHS lists them too: - Mood swings, low mood or depression - Anxiety that arrives without a reason you can name - Problems with memory or concentration, often called brain fog - Sleep that will not come, or will not last - Less interest in sex Poor sleep feeds the rest. When you cannot get to sleep or stay asleep, you feel irritable, stressed and anxious the next day. The fog and the fear then look like proof that something is badly wrong. Many people describe something harder to list. A sense of being invisible, or of grieving a body and a life that felt like yours. That belongs in the room too. Source: [NHS: menopause symptoms](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-2) ## Low mood or depression Mood changes in menopause are common, and NHS inform is clear that they should not be confused with depression. Depression is a more serious condition, where very low mood is more constant and lasts longer. The two can overlap, and hormones do not explain everything. If you already lived with anxiety or low mood, menopause can turn the volume up. Our [anxiety page](https://viacara.com/support/anxiety/) covers that side in more depth. If low mood has settled in and stayed for weeks, tell your GP. Antidepressants are an option the NHS names for low mood, depression or anxiety caused by menopause. Sources: [NHS inform: menopause wellbeing](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-5), [NHS: menopause treatment](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-4) ![The same garden at dusk, a lantern lit beside the chair and the beds still full](https://viacara.com/img/content/menopause-mid-light.webp) The season changes. What you planted is still there ## What talking therapy can do The NHS names cognitive behavioural therapy as a talking therapy that can help with low mood and anxiety. It can help with sleep problems and hot flushes too. NICE takes the same view. Its 2024 update says to consider menopause-specific CBT for hot flushes, plus sleep and low mood linked to them. It can run alongside HRT or instead of it. We summarise the guideline here rather than quote it, so read the source for the detail. [CBT](https://viacara.com/approaches/cbt/) for menopause works on the thoughts that turn a symptom into a spiral. A hot flush in a meeting becomes "everyone can see, I am losing it". The fear makes the next one worse. Therapy loosens that link. It also teaches paced breathing and sleep habits that hold up on bad nights. Not everyone wants a structured approach. If what you need is space to talk about who you are becoming, a [person-centred](https://viacara.com/approaches/person-centred/) counsellor may fit better. Both are talking therapies, and a good first session helps you tell which one you want. Sources: [NHS: menopause self-help](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-3), [NICE NG23](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-6) ## *HRT* and therapy Oestrogen is the main type of HRT, and it can help manage your symptoms. For many people it lifts mood and sleep as well as the flushes. That decision sits with you and your GP. Therapy is not the alternative to HRT. It is what you do alongside it, or while you wait, or if you cannot take it. Some people start HRT and still feel low. That is a reason to talk to someone, not a failure of the medicine. Source: [NHS: menopause treatment](https://viacara.com/support/menopause/#ref-4) ## Who to *look* for Look for a professional who names menopause or midlife in their profile, and ask how they work with it. A CBT therapist trained in menopause symptoms will describe a short course, often with sleep and breathing skills. A counsellor will describe open sessions at your pace. You can bring the whole picture. Work, relationships, ageing parents and children leaving home often land in the same few years. A good professional will not make you pick one. We hear from people who waited years because they thought it was just menopause and they should cope. You do not have to cope alone. Tell us what has changed, and we will find the right person. Thanks for your interest. We're not taking on new clients at the moment. ## Ready to find support through *menopause*? We ask what matters to you, then find professionals who fit. Leave your email and we'll let you know as soon as we're ready for you. This conversation helps us find you the right support. What you share helps us understand what you're looking for and find someone who fits. Your email keeps you updated on what's happening next and isn't shared with anyone we introduce you to. [Privacy policy](https://viacara.com/privacy) [Terms of service](https://viacara.com/terms) ## References 1. National Health Service (2026). *Menopause and perimenopause: overview*. [Link](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/) 2. National Health Service (2026). *Symptoms of menopause and perimenopause*. [Link](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/symptoms/) 3. National Health Service (2026). *Things you can do to help menopause and perimenopause symptoms*. [Link](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/things-you-can-do/) 4. National Health Service (2026). *Treatment for menopause and perimenopause*. [Link](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/treatment/) 5. NHS inform (2022). *Menopause and your mental wellbeing*. [Link](https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/womens-health/later-years-around-50-years-and-over/menopause-and-post-menopause-health/menopause-and-your-mental-wellbeing/) 6. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2024). *Menopause: identification and management (NG23)*. [Link](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23) ## Related ### [Understanding Anxiety](https://viacara.com/support/anxiety/) Learn about anxiety, its symptoms and how therapy can help. Find the right practitioner for anxiety support. ### [Grief Counselling](https://viacara.com/support/grief/) Grief has no timeline. Find a counsellor who can sit with you while you find your way through loss, in your own time and on your own terms. ### [Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)](https://viacara.com/approaches/cbt/) Learn how CBT works, what happens in sessions and what NICE says about it, and read about its forms for sleep, pain and self-help. ### [Person-Centred Therapy](https://viacara.com/approaches/person-centred/) Learn how person-centred therapy works, what sessions look like and why the relationship with your therapist matters most. ### [Finding the Right Practitioner](https://viacara.com/guides/finding-a-practitioner/) A practical guide to finding a mental health practitioner who fits your needs, preferences and budget. ### [Sleep Problems and Insomnia](https://viacara.com/support/sleep/) Insomnia is thought to affect around 1 in 3 people in the UK. Find a professional who works with sleep and with what keeps you awake.