Gillian Anderson just opened up about her struggle with early menopause
Gillian Anderson is officially one of our favorite humans (because, um, Agent Scully much?!). And Anderson just opened up about her experience with early menopause in an interview with Lenny Letter called The Truth is Out There (About Menopause). She recalled the confusing changes that started happening to her body once early menopause struck.
She said she began to feel overwhelmed with emotions and was unable to cope with her usual everyday stresses, and so became suspicious that something was up. “It was at the point that I felt like my life was falling apart around me that I started to ask what could be going on internally, and friends suggested it might be hormonal,” she wrote.This is super important, because all too often issues related to menopause get swept under the rug in our culture.
Which is kind of insane, since it affects half the global population.
via giphyAnderson said she visited numerous specialists and did research which helped her learn that in pre-menopause, women experience a depletion in their levels of estrogen that causes them to “develop symptoms like anxiety, depression, mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, and find it harder and harder to cope with the normal routines of our lives.”
"I was used to being able to balance a lot of things, and all of a sudden I felt like I could handle nothing. I felt completely overwhelmed. When I talked to the menopause specialist, she said that she often gets phone calls from female CEOs screaming down the phone, "I need help now! I am losing my mind!"
BUT, nobody lost their mind. In fact, Anderson is now using her experience as a way to inform others. Her new book, co-written with journalist Jennifer Nadel, is called We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere. Menopause is just one of the topics discussed in the book, and it’s about all the natural, normal parts of life and being female that still receive stigma.
Thanks for keeping it real and never shying away from the messy stuff, Gillian!
