Is there a role for mindfulness-based interventions (here defined as MBCT and MBSR) in facilitating optimal psychological adjustment in the menopause?

Abstract

The menopause presents many challenges for middle-aged women worldwide, often highly productive women who are in the prime of their lives juggling busy careers and family responsibilities, when good quality of life and functional ability is an imperative. Some women cope well with their menopausal symptoms and seem to embrace this time of change, while others struggle psychologically to adjust to the changes. Mindfulness-based interventions have a robust evidence base in relation to their efficacy in both physical and psychological conditions. Both programs have been adapted for conditions where difficulties in psychological adjustment to change and/or loss are amongst the core mechanisms that maintain distress. I explored the potential aetiology of distress in the menopause and evaluated existing empirical literature to ascertain whether there is a role for mindfulness-based interventions to facilitate optimal psychological adjustment to changes in the menopause, paying particular attention to the mechanisms that lend themselves to mindfulness training being efficacious. Current available evidence is promising and supports the hypothesis that mindfulness-based interventions may have a role in facilitating psychological adjustment during the menopause transition. The dearth of literature specific to mindfulness-based interventions and the menopause was noted.