Menopause and mental health

It can be confusing to understand all the different terms about menopause.

• Menopause means the point when you've completely stopped having your periods for one year. Technically, menopause only lasts for one day. But it's often used as an umbrella term to describe the whole time when you experience symptoms of perimenopause, menopause or post-menopause.
• Perimenopause means the time before you've stopped having periods for a year, but you're experiencing symptoms of menopause. Perimenopause can last for many years.
• Post-menopause means the time after menopause. You may still experience symptoms of menopause but they usually get easier over time.

When we talk about menopause in these information pages, this includes perimenopause and post-menopause. You may also hear other terms to describe menopause, such as 'the change'.