Customer Reviews

Menopause and Madness: The Truth About Estrogen and the Mind

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I bought this book because at the age of forty two I was suddenly and unexplicably torn away from the self I knew. For no obvious reason, I was overcome with crippling anxiety and panic attacks, bizarre fears and overwhelming thoughts of suicide. I could barely function from day to day, and I felt that I was surely on the verge of insanity.
All I knew was that all these horrible feelings coincided with changes in my menstrual cycle and that I seemed to be suffering from intense PMS symptoms (especially sore breasts) almost all the time, so I suspected what I was going through might be hormonal. Marcia Lawrence (an intelligent, highly educated woman) confirmed my suspicions, and validated my feelings of psychological distress.
Her story, as incredible as it may seem, will make one question the belief that hormones are not at the root of mental and emotional turmoil during their greatest times of fluctuation- in the premenstrual, pregnancy, post-partum and perimenopause periods.
Her experience, as well as those of other women she has included in her book, was frightening and beyond her control. I feel that this book should be read by every doctor who deals primarily with women, by women young and old and by the men who are around them. It might help people to see that the so called myth of hormones making women crazy, has it's basis in a reality that still exists, and I have been living in it for the last several years!

If only I had found this book the first time I had psychotic symptoms, almost seven years ago, when I was unwittingly in the middle of peri-menopause at the age of 45. Instead this book found me at the library today when I was looking for something totally different in the field of sports medicine.

Marcia Lawrence's experiences validate my own hard-won battle for my mental health issues to be treated truly as biochemical. My first admission to a psychiatric hospital was during the time my periods had become more closely spaced (26 days apart and very light). I was first in thrall to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia. But then, I suspected there was a hormonal issue at root of the problem, when I had my third hospitalization and realized that indeed, the first day of each hospitalization I would get my period. My poorly informed (male) psychiatrist told me "periods are brought on by stress." Thank goodness, I had a female psychologist who laughed when I share that story--that kept me from minimizing the connection between my menses and my so-called psychiatric symptoms.

I knew there had to be someone else who had had my experiences, and Marcia is just that person. Articulate, educated and well-connected, Marcia has written a book that validates my hunches about my own symptoms.

Eventually, I told my psychiatrist I was going to see an endocrinologist. My doctor supported my efforts, but did not refer me himself. Because I had been told emphatically by women friends that there was no endocrinologist of good report in our town, I went to a city that had a well-respected medical college. The endocrinologist I saw dealt more with infertility than with menopause, and he told me to collect information about my cycles, in order to "prove" I had PMS. Well, right about that time, my period ceased and there was no more data to collect! Oh and yes, I tried out the guy's progesterone to help normalize my cycles. I had an unusual response to it, but it took me a few days to make the connection between that hormone and my feelings of euphoria. It made me feel so odd, that my psych doctor thought I was needing to increase my medications! So much for my corroborating my hunches in time to get real data.

The author was fortunate to work with Dr. Ralph Wharton at Columbia, and get data to document her story. What was a bit of a miracle to me is that Marcia was much more certain at the very beginning that her problems were hormonal. After some time, her psychiatrist did indeed refer her... for hormonal testing. That is when she found that all her symptoms, including vulnerability to psychosis, were her brain's response to estrogen deficiency. What a confirmation this was for me today. What a fantastic, well-researched book.

Alas, I cannot prove my own case, but I want to encourage others to read this book and get ahead of the curve as they go into menopause. Some of us women have brains that are very sensitive to the hormonal changes of PMS, postpartum, peri-menopause and menopause. To go to the hospital armed with this book would revolutionize the way psychiatry is currently implemented

As for me.... I made it through menopause and am now post-menopausal. I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and manic-depression, before I finally convinced my psychiatrist that my problem was with anxiety and sleep deprivation. These days, when I get body-anxiety (such as is mentioned in this book) I am typically able to prevent insomnia and psychosis from occurring without the use of medications. I am glad for the books I did find that led me to make my own conclusions and help me to be present for my now 11 year old son. They do say that the patients with the best mental health prognosis are educated women. I am ready to advocate!

I read this book about 10 years ago, yet it still remains fresh in my mind. I was drawn to its title but honestly wasn't expecting the excellent caliber of writing which successfully meshes the narrative with documented medical facts. When a relative began experiencing severe emotional and behavioral changes at the onset of menopause, I recommended this book to her husband. He was completely baffled and understandably worried about the inexplicable transformation of his wife from a vibrant, secure, and happy woman to one who had become entrapped in a semi-psychotic state of mind. Also, I could relate with many of her symptoms, even though I had not yet even entered perimenopause, as I had suffered similarly following several of my pregnancies. I had been afflicted with a "madness" similar to the symptoms described in the author's own narrative account of her battle through menopause. I became convinced that for some women, hormonal fluctuations whether during pregnancy or menopause can reek extreme mental havoc. Marcia Lawrence's book should have gotten more publicity and professional acknowledgement when it came out, but word of mouth works wonders, too. This is a must-read book for mental health professionals and physicians who study or work with women's health issues. If Oprah Winfrey had touted this book, it would have been a best seller.