Davina McCall reveals ‘devastating impact’ of menopause

DAVINA McCall has revealed the ‘devastating impact’ the menopause can cause – after previously comparing it to ‘coming off heroin’.

The TV presenter has been an advocate for menopause education and breaking down taboos around the subject for a number of years now, after going through it herself.

Davina, 58, has fronted two programmes about it: Sex, Myths and the Menopause (2021) and Sex, Mind and the Menopause (2022), and has co-wrote a book, Menopausing.

But the star believes more still needs to be done, particularly regarding women’s mental health as they go through the menopause, as well as dealing with the stigma involved and lack of understanding in the workplace.

She said: “Some women sail through the menopause unscathed. But some don’t, and the impact on their mental health can be devastating and have a huge impact on their lives and their relationships.

“Lack of knowledge and ingrained stigma still prevent open conversations between doctors and patients, in the workplace and among friends and family, leaving women without the crucial support they need at an incredibly vulnerable time in their lives.

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“And it’s just not acceptable.  Why are women still fighting to be heard?”

She concluded: “Together, we must make the link between mental health and menopause known across society – among health professionals, NHS, government, members of the public and employers – to improve the policies, care and support provided for all women experiencing menopause.”

Davina, who is a Royal College of Psychiatrists Honorary Fellow, also spoke out in a new video after it published its first ever position statement on menopause and mental health.

The statement reveals that a lack of understanding means many women are neither seeking, nor receiving, vital help because they’re not aware of the relationship between menopause and mental health.

When Davina previously spoke about her own menopause journey in an exclusive interview with The Sun, she compared it to ‘coming off heroin’, which she battled an addiction to in her early 20s.

She said: “One of the greatest things about getting clean off heroin was that I never woke up in wet sheets again. It didn’t matter how bad life got, it was never as bad as when I was taking heroin.

“For me still, 30 years on, I wake up with my head on a crisp, clean, dry pillow, and it’s great.

“So when I woke up on a Garnier shoot in Prague in 2012 with a wet pillow, and the sheet was so wet underneath me that I had to get a towel, I thought: ‘What the f**k is going on?’ I felt revolting.

“My skin looked terrible because I’d sweated so much. I was so dehydrated. But because it wasn’t regular hot flashes, [menopause] didn’t even enter my mind.”

Even more terrifying was the way words seemed to fall out of her head. Brain fog left her panicked she was getting Alzheimer’s, which her dad Andrew suffered from before his death.

It was something that impacted her TV work, as she explained: “It was so weird and frightening. I was doing this show with celebrities who I’d grown up with. I’d just look at them and think: ‘I can’t remember their names.’

“I’d have said their name on the autocue 10 minutes before, and then it’s gone. I’d think: ‘Oh my god, how am I going to continue doing this job?’

“It wasn’t even just names, it was happening all the time. Looking outside and thinking: ‘What’s the name for a big expanse of grass?’

“I couldn’t find the word ‘lawn’. It was so frustrating and a frightening time for somebody like me who’s very proud. You don’t tell people – and that’s a very lonely place to be.”