18/08/2022
BUT HOW CAN OUR THOUGHTS REALLY AFFECT A HOT FLUSH??? 🥵🤔🤨
I know there is a lot of talk about thoughts and how thoughts contribute to our anxiety, but when the trigger is something biological we often feel out of control and as if we have to ‘put up’ because how on earth can our thinking affect the impact that our hormones are having on us?
But the research shows that even if there are biological symptoms; our thoughts about this will have consequences on our feelings, actions and the entire experience of that particular symptom. In fact, when it comes to managing hot flushes, psychological approaches using CBT have been shown to be highly effective and is recommended in the UK by NICE guidelines.
This is because nothing happens in isolation and even when we experience something physically, we will have certain thoughts about what it means to experience it, what it looks like, what others think… and then of course good old rumination kicks in and we will have thoughts about the thoughts that we think others are having and on it goes!!!
This will lead us to feel a certain way and behave a certain way. These consequences then lead to further thoughts about ‘the next time’ we have that symptom. This is how anxiety in particular can escalate quickly.
Let’s take the example of hot flushes. We can’t necessarily stop a hot flush or predict it. So how can we influence our experience of it?
To map this out on the diagram below might look like:
Situation: You start having a hot flush in public
Thoughts: “Oh no, here we go again”, “what are people thinking? People are noticing”, “I look so red and hot, this is so embarrassing”, “People are going to know I am in the menopause”…. Add your own!
Emotions: Frustration, anxiety (social anxiety is especially common with women I have worked with who experience hot flushes), embarrassment, feeling very self-conscious
Behaviour: Trying to leave the situation as soon as possible, hyper focusing on your body and symptoms (which actually heightens awareness of them and makes them feel more intense!), even avoiding going out altogether in case one does occur.
Physical: Not only the hot flush symptoms, but an increase in anxiety adds more fluster, sweating, palpitations and blushing.
And this is one round of the cycle. Once we get caught in this, it can grow bigger: “Oh, remember how bad it was last time”, “I can’t cope with that again, I won’t go to the social gathering, it’s too much”… which can then lead to withdrawing from doing the things we enjoy, which then impacts on our mood.
There are lots of factors that will impact our thoughts about having a hot flush, including our perception of the menopause itself and what we imagine other people to think.
Research has shown that holding more neutral thoughts about a hot flush “this is normal part of the menopause that many women experience and it will pass soon” can lead to feelings of calm and acceptance, instead of panic and anxiety.
By being able to steer away from an anxious state, and focus on breathing through the flush, we will limit the physical sensations; of course we still experience the flush but not the additional anxiety that adds layer up on layer until we feel completely overwhelmed.
This is really good news!!! It shows that we can have more influence than we realise and ultimately prevent ourselves from getting caught up in the vicious cycle.
If you would like to know more about how we get caught up in anxiety and learn ways to get out of this loop then do sign up for our webinar on Anxiety & Menopause before Friday.
We are also releasing a live and interactive 4 week, course on anxiety if you want to go deeper; we would love to support you with this 😊✨😊
https://www.menopausepsychologyhub.com/anxietywebinarsignup
