Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT
No. 1 proven method for dealing with menopause
Have you heard about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and the positive effects it has on menopause symptoms?
You may be unaware that research has shown that CBT is the number one, most effective, natural therapy for many menopause symptoms such as
- hot flashes,
- night sweats,
- insomnia,
- anxiety,
- mood swings
- weight gain
- irritability
- fatigue
Numerous studies were conducted on the effectiveness of CBT. Menopause has a prominent phycological aspect that causes women to feel insecure, vulnerable, and no longer valuable in today’s society obsessed with youth.
The exciting thing about CBT is that apart from dealing with the emotional aspect of menopause, it also has a positive impact on the way we experience the physical aspects of menopause symptoms.
How does it work?
- CBT is based on the trio of Thought-Emotion-Action. Thoughts cause emotions in our bodies; emotions cause us to act in certain ways. An example would be if a car honks behind you, your thought may be that the person is aggressive, you feel angry, and anger may cause you to shout at them.
- CBT for menopause addresses the cycle that starts with a physical sensation – the onset of a hot flash for example. It usually manifests as a sensation in the stomach, elevated heart rate, a flutter of anxiety or a tingling under the skin.
- This is followed by the thought caused by this first indication that a hot flash is about to happen. It is usually a very negative inner monolog or dialog that goes something like this:
“Oh no! Not again. Everybody will see me get all flushed and will judge me as menopausal and old….”
“This will never stop. I can’t function in public. I’ll just stay home.”
“I can’t do my job properly anymore. I can’t concentrate. Everyone will see me sweat…”
- These thoughts trigger negative emotions like sadness, helplessness, anxiety, loneliness, and so on…
- A consequence of this sequence of sensation-thought-feeling is a behavior that usually causes the whole vicious circle to start again and even makes hot flashes worse.
Thoughts and feelings
What happens is that this kind of “thinking-feeling-behaving” chain causes unnecessary additional stress in life, and we know that stress is one of the worst triggers for many menopause symptoms.
What CBT gives you is a technique to recognize the first signal that a hot flash is going to happen and a technique for questioning and controlling your thoughts, choosing your emotions, and therefore changing your behavior, which often results in improving symptoms.
Many women tell us that they stopped doing the things they used to love doing because of menopause and how it makes them feel. This behavior causes a withdrawal from social life.
For example, to change this self-isolation behavior, you need to change your thoughts about how everyone is judging you when you become flushed and sweat.
You could, instead, change your thought process into thinking that people don’t really notice these things and, even if they did, that you can use humor to deal with the situation.
Change thoughts – feelings follow
By changing your thoughts, you will be able to change the feeling that follows the thoughts, so instead of being embarrassed and anxious, you stay calm and collected.
As a result of applying CBT techniques, you start to go out more often, meet friends, and continue with your life.
CBT decreases stress and, as a consequence, in the case of hot flashes, the symptoms are less frequent and intense.
The basic principles of CBT are simple:
- Spot the first physical sensation
- Catch the thoughts that follow the sensation and change them
- Change how to feel about the whole situation
- Change your behavior
Women often say that they are unable to control their thought processes or change how they feel, but the effectiveness of CBT has been definitively proven through rigorous research. With practice and persistence, almost everyone can reach this.
CBT therapists teach techniques to achieve this kind of control over your own thoughts and emotions.
