Medical Gaslighting in Perimenopause: Lessons from My Mother's Experience

The Personal Impact of Perimenopause

• 💡 As Dr. Haver researched her book on perimenopause, a core memory of her mother's menopause surfaced.
• 📌 Her mother relied on butalbital, a central nervous system depressant, prescribed in her 40s to manage anxiety, mood swings, and overwhelm.
• 🧠 This medication was the only thing tethering her mother to calm amidst a chaotic family life, including running a restaurant and raising eight children.

Medicalization and Silencing of Symptoms

• 🔬 In medical school, Dr. Haver learned butalbital was a derivative of phenobarbital, a barbiturate.
• ⚠️ Her mother was prescribed a CNS depressant to manage grief, life stressors, and likely undiagnosed perimenopause symptoms.
• 💬 Hormonal changes, like the role of estrogen, were never discussed with her mother.

Historical Dismissal of Women's Health

• 🎭 The cognitive and emotional aspects of perimenopause were historically dismissed as personality flaws, excessive stress, or women being "unhappy" or "unnecessarily complicated."
• 🧠 Medicine was taught to view women's emotional experiences as psychosomatic rather than biological changes.
• 🗣️ This characteristic dismissiveness is a bias Dr. Haver has worked to untangle in herself and acknowledges is present in much of the medical field.

The Shift Towards Biological Understanding

• 📈 Current research is providing scientific proof that the mood changes experienced during perimenopause are biological, not just psychological.
• ✅ Hormonal shifts are now clearly shown to affect women's mental health.
• 🌟 Women deserve better and a more accurate understanding of their perimenopausal experiences.