Watch: ‘Annoyed And Useless’ – Maltese Olympian Opens Up About Going Through Perimenopausal Depression
Maltese Olympian Deirdre Farrugia has opened about going through perimenopausal depression, saying she had frequent bouts of “going out in the car and screaming”.
The latest episode of popular podcast She Word has shone a very important light on menopause… and the devastating effects it can have on women’s mental health.
“I wouldn’t say that I was suicidal,” Farrugia – who represented Malta in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games – said on the show. “But I felt depressed, annoyed and useless. Very, very blue.”
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According to a 2021 survey published by Forbes, 29% of women never sought information about menopause before they experienced it, with a whole fifth (20%) of women having experienced symptoms for a year or more before being assessed by a healthcare provider.
With symptoms ranging from hot flashes and night sweats to weight gain and muscle pain, most women (73%) reported that they were not currently treating their menopause.
“If you can’t escape it, no one else will, it’s gonna get you no matter what,” Trudy Kerr said on the new episode of the podcast which debuted last night. “If every single woman on the planet has to go through this, why do we never talk about it?”
With actress and artist Izzy Warrington pointing to “age-related stigma” and therapist Karen Schranz elaborating on the impact menopause could have on the women going through it, the one-hour show promises a return to the topic which is so rarely given the time it deserves.
“It felt like my body had been whisked away by aliens and replaced by a new one with no instructions,” Warrington put it, with many feeling she had perfectly summed menopause for many women.
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