Women’s Health and Mental Health: Navigating Menopause, Autoimmunity, and Medical Dismissal
For many women, the journey through midlife and chronic illness is marked not only by physical symptoms, but by emotional exhaustion, medical gaslighting, and a deep sense of being unseen. Whether you're navigating perimenopause, menopause, or living with an autoimmune condition, the impact on your mental health is real—and often overlooked.
As a therapist specializing in grief, trauma, and medical illness, I work with women who feel dismissed, overwhelmed, and emotionally depleted by their healthcare experiences. This post is for you—the woman who’s been told “it’s just stress,” “you’re too young for menopause,” or “your labs look fine.”
🧠 Menopause and Perimenopause: More Than Hormones
Perimenopause and menopause are not just biological transitions—they’re emotional ones. Shifts in estrogen and progesterone can affect mood, cognition, sleep, and identity. Yet many women are told to “tough it out” or are offered quick fixes without real conversation.
Common emotional experiences include:
• Anxiety and depression linked to hormonal changes
• Grief over changing roles, fertility, or body image
• Irritability and brain fog that disrupt work and relationships
• Isolation from lack of understanding or support
Therapy can help you name these changes, explore their impact, and find ways to reconnect with your sense of self.
🧬 Autoimmune Conditions and Emotional Fatigue
Autoimmune diseases—like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s, and MS—disproportionately affect women. They’re often invisible, unpredictable, and misunderstood. The emotional toll includes:
• Medical trauma from years of misdiagnosis or dismissal
• Chronic fatigue and pain that erode mental health
• Fear of flare-ups and loss of control
• Struggles with identity when the body feels unreliable
Therapy offers a space to process these layers, build coping strategies, and reclaim agency in your health journey.
🩺 Gender Bias in Healthcare: The Emotional Cost
Many women report feeling unheard or invalidated by medical professionals. Symptoms are minimized, emotional distress is pathologized, and advocacy is often met with resistance.
You may have experienced:
• Being told “it’s all in your head”
• Having pain or fatigue dismissed as anxiety
• Feeling rushed, interrupted, or patronized in appointments
• Avoiding care due to past medical trauma
These experiences aren’t just frustrating—they’re traumatic. Therapy can help you unpack the emotional residue, rebuild trust in your body, and develop tools for self-advocacy.
💬 You Deserve to Be Taken Seriously
Your symptoms are real. Your story matters. You are not too sensitive, too dramatic, or too complicated. Therapy is not about fixing you—it’s about supporting you in a system that often fails to listen.
Whether you're navigating hormonal shifts, chronic illness, or the emotional weight of medical dismissal, you deserve care that honors your full experience.
📍 Therapy in Redlands, CA and Online
If you're seeking mental health support for women’s health issues, I offer individual therapy in Redlands, California, Missoula, MT, and virtually across the regions. My practice is grounded in empathy, realism, and advocacy for inclusive, responsive care.
