MENOPAUSE IN CRISIS~
When Spiritual Emergency Meets
The Feminine Midlife Passage
A memoir *
In 2005 at the age of 46, I experienced what Western Medicine would most likely classify as a “nervous breakdown”. Seemingly out of nowhere, my whole body began shaking and my mind became overwhelmed with feelings of intense anxiety and panic. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I could barely breathe. My heart rate, which was usually around 65 or so, began pounding at rates as high as 105 beats per minute and my blood pressure soaring to readings as high as 178/100. Needless to say, I was terrified. And yet, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t figure out what was causing all of this midlife upheaval.
“Still don’t know what’s happening in my brain…am I dying? Am I going crazy…Or do I have a menopause psychosis? Or perhaps a psychosis related to all of my childhood trauma?”
It wasn’t until after dozens of trips to many different doctors and a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital that I stumbled across the term “Spiritual Emergency” and came to understand my midlife upheaval as a sort of healing crisis…a mind/body healing crisis brought on by my history of abuse and the shifting hormones of perimenopause. Knowing I'm not the only woman to experience this sort of "menopausal madness" during The Change, I decided to write this memoir, my hope being to offer insights and support to women undergoing similar struggles. Do keep in mind that the intense upheaval I went through is not every woman's experience with perimenopause but is something that is much more common in women who are carrying the emotions and energies of unprocessed trauma or abuse.
Currently available in Print and epub at The Book Patch.
Ebook also available through Heart Symbol Publishing.
Kindle available through Amazon.
When Spiritual Emergency Meets
The Feminine Midlife Passage
A memoir *
In 2005 at the age of 46, I experienced what Western Medicine would most likely classify as a “nervous breakdown”. Seemingly out of nowhere, my whole body began shaking and my mind became overwhelmed with feelings of intense anxiety and panic. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I could barely breathe. My heart rate, which was usually around 65 or so, began pounding at rates as high as 105 beats per minute and my blood pressure soaring to readings as high as 178/100. Needless to say, I was terrified. And yet, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t figure out what was causing all of this midlife upheaval.
“Still don’t know what’s happening in my brain…am I dying? Am I going crazy…Or do I have a menopause psychosis? Or perhaps a psychosis related to all of my childhood trauma?”
It wasn’t until after dozens of trips to many different doctors and a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital that I stumbled across the term “Spiritual Emergency” and came to understand my midlife upheaval as a sort of healing crisis…a mind/body healing crisis brought on by my history of abuse and the shifting hormones of perimenopause. Knowing I'm not the only woman to experience this sort of "menopausal madness" during The Change, I decided to write this memoir, my hope being to offer insights and support to women undergoing similar struggles. Do keep in mind that the intense upheaval I went through is not every woman's experience with perimenopause but is something that is much more common in women who are carrying the emotions and energies of unprocessed trauma or abuse.
Currently available in Print and epub at The Book Patch.
Ebook also available through Heart Symbol Publishing.
Kindle available through Amazon.
|
Review from Rozalia Kovacs-Napier of the International Spiritual Emergence Network (ISEN)~
A great book for giving hope and finding meaning in life's quest. The depth and honesty of Lynda's struggle shows the transformation possible when we engage with our process. She visits helplessness and hopelessness and comes to find that there can be meaning here, meaning that it is so rewarding to engage with and blossom from.
Lynda's focus is the transformation possible during the menopause: she shows that the female cycle gives us an opportunity to heal each month and that some months might be really hard, but instead of being victim, we can engage consciously to turn things around.
This particular journey could be transferred to other periods of growth and change within the human experience, no matter how bad, how challenging, we can end up managing our life again and in this way this account of one woman's journey can help others to develop meaning and insight.
For more information about Menopause and Spiritual Emergency, please refer to my sister website at:
https://menopauseincrisis.weebly.com/
Archived recording of radio interview with Dr. Jamie Turndorf:
"The Secret Reason Why Menopause Makes Many Women Suffer"
*Memoir previously published as:
Menopause In Crisis~~The Summer I Lost My Mind by Lynda Wyzda (pen name)
A great book for giving hope and finding meaning in life's quest. The depth and honesty of Lynda's struggle shows the transformation possible when we engage with our process. She visits helplessness and hopelessness and comes to find that there can be meaning here, meaning that it is so rewarding to engage with and blossom from.
Lynda's focus is the transformation possible during the menopause: she shows that the female cycle gives us an opportunity to heal each month and that some months might be really hard, but instead of being victim, we can engage consciously to turn things around.
This particular journey could be transferred to other periods of growth and change within the human experience, no matter how bad, how challenging, we can end up managing our life again and in this way this account of one woman's journey can help others to develop meaning and insight.
For more information about Menopause and Spiritual Emergency, please refer to my sister website at:
https://menopauseincrisis.weebly.com/
Archived recording of radio interview with Dr. Jamie Turndorf:
"The Secret Reason Why Menopause Makes Many Women Suffer"
*Memoir previously published as:
Menopause In Crisis~~The Summer I Lost My Mind by Lynda Wyzda (pen name)