"Help me ease meno bothers"

From hormone therapy to gentle exercise, experts share proven ways to calm the emotional turbulence of perimenopause and menopause

- by KRISTINA MASTROCOLA

Know this is normal

The first step is to pause and take your symptoms seriously, urges women's brain health specialist Lisa Mosconi, Ph.D. “Women are conditioned to minimize what they're feeling—but mood changes during perimenopause and menopause are real, and they can include anything from sadness and irritability to overwhelm, anxiety, anger or even panic attacks. These shifts are not in your head—well, actually, they are in your head, but they’re not imagined. They stem from how menopause impacts the brain.”

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