Re the criticism about women being offered cognitive behaviourial therapy for menopause symptoms under new draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (New menopause therapy guidance will harm women’s health, say campaigners, 11 December), HRT is still the primary recommendation for those who need and want it. But not all women have symptoms that need treatment, many women don’t want HRT, and for some HRT is not advised for medical reasons. CBT can be added or used independently, depending on each woman’s circumstances. Nice’s guidance is about increasing choices for women.
We do not believe that advocating CBT could increase the stigma around menopause. The idea that recommending CBT implies menopausal symptoms are “all in their heads” is inaccurate. CBT can help people to counter negative attitudes based on gendered ageism, and is effective in helping manage a range of physical and psychological symptoms. The CBT approach is based on research which shows that women’s experience of menopause is influenced by a mix of biological, psychological and social factors.
Some people have said that the guidance belittles symptoms through misogynistic language that is patronising, offensive and detrimental to women’s health. We cannot find any such language in the draft Nice document.
Paula Briggs Consultant in sexual and reproductive health, Liverpool Women’s NHS foundation trust, Myra Hunter Emeritus professor of clinical health psychology, King’s College London
