More women in their 50s take antidepressants than ever but would their mutual support not work just as well
Life for women in their 50s can throw up quite a few challenges. So, when I heard that two thirds of patients being prescribed anti-depressants are female, with use peaking among those aged between 50 and 54, the figures saddened me but I could see a number of potential causes. For a lot of women menopause could be a factor because you have all these symptoms that you don’t necessarily understand. It can make you feel tired, affect your mood, your performance at work and your ability to socialise. I also still think there is a stigma around mental health. I know it’s being talked about much more – there was even a #nationalmentalhealthday last week – which raises awareness and will hopefully encourage many more people to come out and speak about it, but a lot don’t. They go to the doctor and sadly, anti-depressants are all too readily prescribed. More than 902,000 people in Scotland were given anti-depressants last year. That’s a 73% rise in the number of prescriptions over the last decade, from 3.8 million to 6.6m. These are huge numbers and common sense will always tell me that at stages in my life where I feel a bit down or things are getting on top of me, exercise always helps and I’ll go for a run or just walk to get out in the fresh air and speak with people. Your 50s is also a stage in life where kids might be fleeing the nest and you’re questioning your role because for those 20-odd years you’ve been the mum and then, suddenly, the children have gone. You might want to have a little part-time job but they can be harder to find when you’re older and you can lose sense of who you are and what you’re worth. I’ve always been a big believer in the importance of creating women-only groups as an option for both education and stimulation. If you bring women together who have a common cause, a common passion or even a common symptom like depression, they’re much more likely to open up. It’s a bit like a mother and toddler group where you meet other women of a similar age and in a similar situation, and there are opportunities to share how you’re feeling and be able to offload to someone. Bringing like-minded people together is something health centres could provide, so we can help each other through these times.
When I listened to Gwyneth Paltrow talking on the BBC last week about her wellness brand, Goop, it sounded like a great unpaid advert. Her company has been condemned – and fined – for making unscientific claims about their products including jade eggs to promote “sexual energy”. To me what she’s advocating is gobbledy-Goop. Her business has a bizarre name, some of the stuff she comes out with is just too far-fetched, and she’s more than a little whacky. She wasn’t very convincing in her interview either. If you’re trying to sell something you have to talk with confidence and back it up with facts – particularly if you’re broadcasting to millions of people.