nearly half (41%) of UK\u2019s medical schools<\/a> did not include mandatory menopause education as part of their curriculum.Instead, many expected that healthcare professionals will receive this education during their early years of medical practice, which may not always be the case. Consequently, women with existing mental health conditions often\u00a0face significant inequity in menopause support\u00a0with clinicians frequently attributing menopause-related conditions to pre-existing mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\nDavina McCall MBE, and RCPsych Honorary Fellow, said: <\/p>\n
“Some women sail through the menopause unscathed. But some don\u2019t, and the impact on their mental health can be devastating and have a huge impact on their lives and their relationships.<\/p>\n
\u201cLack of knowledge and ingrained stigma still prevent open conversations between doctors and patients, in the workplace and among friends and family, leaving women without the crucial support they need at an incredibly vulnerable time in their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s just not acceptable.\u00a0 Why are women still fighting to be heard?<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, we must make the link between mental health and menopause known across society – among health professionals, NHS, government, members of the public and employers – to improve the policies, care and support provided for all women experiencing menopause.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
RCPsych is now urging that there must be better menopause and mental health policy that is designed in collaboration with women who have lived experience; the implementation of good quality workplace menopause policy which recognises the link between menopause and mental health; and the healthcare system must be able to meet the mental, psychological and physical health needs of women experiencing menopause and mental illness.<\/p>\n
RCPsych President, Dr Lade Smith CBE said:<\/p>\n
“Menopause can have a significant yet often overlooked impact on women\u2019s mental health and wellbeing.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cWomen account for 51% of the population, and all will experience menopause at some point. This is a societal issue for everyone. Simply put, we must do better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis position statement sets out urgent action that must be taken across society to improve understanding and awareness of the relationship between menopause and mental health \u2013 in healthcare settings, in workplaces and in everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to listen to women\u2019s experiences, ensure that support for women going through menopause is personalised to each individual, and women are empowered to make informed choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Press release
01 March 2026
\u201cIt\u2019s 2026, yet women in perimenopause and menopause are STILL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-454083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}