She works hard for the money

Posted by Liz on Oct 26, 2008 in stress | 1 comment

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8A0ynBDSE4&feature=related]

Work’s hard enough without having to worry about menopausal symptoms, right?

A recent survey of 961  busy female executives suggests that in addition to work stressors, a majority (88%) of professional women have personally experienced menopause and a whopping 95% have experienced symptoms. What’s more, 79% report emotional symptoms.

In a nutshell, menopause symptoms significantly affect daily personal, professional and social lives, which is why it is so important that we continue to have open communication and dialogue about this transition in our lives. The thing is, what are employers doing to insure that female workers can continue to be productive AND comfortable? I would suggest that most employers don’t even consider this obvious issue among their workers. And with the health of the current economy, I would also guess that physical health takes a back-seat.

So, when it comes to your work, what can you do to reduce the additional stress and interference brought on by menopause symptoms?

I had the opportunity to interview Author Patti Digh last week about her book, 37 Days. This week I’m going to be writing about what we talked about. Not surprisingly, many of the strategies that Patti discusses correlate to how we can make our lives easier as we grow older, even in the midst of blood, tears and well, sweat!

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do YOU do to relieve some of the extra stress brought on by menopause symptoms while you’re at work?