Just before Easter this year, The Weekend Australian published an article entitled “Hormone Therapy Silences the Voices”. In that article was mention of a study being undertaken by a Monash professor of psychiatry, Professor Kulkarni, who has been using oestrogen (or estrogen modulating drugs) in patients with psychotic symptoms.
Sufferers of schizophrenia typically hear voices in their head, and they can be very disturbing. One patient, a woman, reported that these voices got worse when she became menopausal. But after the introduction of oestrogen, the voices gave her peace at last.
The study being undertaken is twofold: partly in men, and partly in women. Care has to be taken with prescribing oestrogen long term in any patient because of the risks of breast cancer, dementia and heart disease.
However the very interesting thing in this article was the apparent confirmation of the effect on brain receptors by hormones. We have not had clear evidence of these effects in Australia, but several overseas studies in rats seemed to suggest the possibility. Lots of women have the intuitive knowledge that what they suffer is from their hormonal upset at menopause, including symptoms like voices in the head which are not normally associated with the change of life.
As usual, it is always best to listen to your own body. In this crazy world there is little or no space or time to hear your own intuition. I hasten to add that the little voice in your head that tells you when something is right or not right is entirely different from the voices heard by psychotic patients! The latter are often raving criticisms of the patient themselves, and they disturb their peace of mind, often to the point of suicide.
No, the still small voice that we all have treads a softer path, telling us which turn to take, who to believe, whether something needs attention. To cultivate this intuitive function, we need to set aside time to allow those thoughts to emerge gently. Hence the need for some meditation.
That word ” meditation” has been known to set teeth on edge in people who have no time even to go to the toilet properly! But it takes very little just to sit still, in silence or with soft music, for just a few minutes every day. If your hormones are out of balance, this will be more difficult, but if you are feeling off balance and cannot settle to meditate, there now is a suggestion that hormones can help. The benefits of meditation are no longer debated as it is clearly beneficial to all aspects of your mental and physical health.
I’m looking forward to more results from Monash on this very interesting matter.
