Another Derbyshire resident talks about the importance of talking about, and getting help, for emotional wellbeing issues.

Sarah, aged 49, is a call centre assistant who talks about the emotional health difficulties she experienced when perimenopausal.

She said:

“After 3 failed IVF attempts and the trauma of losing a baby in my early 40’s I became perimenopausal at the age of 43.

“I didn’t know I was perimenopausal at the time but I knew that I just couldn’t focus my mind the way I used to.

“I became very anxious about most things and my stress levels were through the roof, I would cry at the drop of a hat, wake up sweating and felt like I was going crazy… it wasn’t the menopause so I must be losing my mind!”

Despite seeing doctors, Sarah was told she was too young to be going through the menopause and it was only after persisting, that she was finally given a diagnosis of being perimenopausal.

Sarah said:

“It took lots of trial and error, many, many months of counselling and HRT treatments to get me to a stage where I could function in a way that allowed me to feel myself and healthy.

“I’ve come to learn through mindfulness and deep and meaningful chats - especially with my 73 year father and my husband - that this is part of life. There are so many challenges and every single one of them will ‘register’ with us, all of them important in their own way.

“Our experiences are of course unique to us, so although people may be able to empathise, no one could possibly understand exactly what it is we’re going through.

“Whatever emotion we experience is okay but until I embraced everything, accepted it and gave it a mental place - I didn’t know how to deal with it.

“The professionals are there for a reason. If you’ve spoken to one and they weren’t able to help you, speak to another.

“A good counsellor will help you to get to where you want to be, where you deserve to be. I think sometimes we are way too hard on ourselves and we shouldn’t be.

“Life can be difficult enough so we need to enjoy the good things that are all around us and love ourselves. Sometimes it’s very difficult to see the beautiful wood for the beautiful trees.”

 If you need to talk about how you're feeling then the Derbyshire Mental Health helpline is open 7 days per week, tel: 0800 028 0077.