Global Advanced Research Journal of Educational Research and Review (ISSN: 2315-5132) Vol. 2(2) pp. 041-045, February, 2013
Available online http://garj.org/garjerr/index.htm
Copyright © 2013 Global Advanced Research Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Menopause in women: implication for counselling
Florence Undiyaundeye A
Dept of ECCDE, Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River State
Email: atube2001@yahoo.com
Accepted 21 February, 2013
Menopause is a normal midlife transition for women. Sometimes is poorly understood particularly when
proper information is not provided on time for the victim. This study examined the reaction of women to
the issue of menopause. A total of 350 female married teachers formed the sample for the study. A
modified attitude towards menopause checklist of married female academics was used for the study
sample. The respondents responses who participated in the study were analyzed using percentages.
The results showed that the respondents who participated in the study showed that most of them
showed concern about how their spouses feel about them after menopause (98%), some feel that it is
right to see a doctor at this time (91%), menopause seem to be seen as an unpleasant experience 83%
in a varid way. This implied the findings for counseling and counselors discussion. The main issue
weighed the major skills the counselor needs to adopt in assisting them adjust with menopause
condition and provide enhancement to develop positive impression towards the condition. The
counseling involves communication of information to assist a woman in the condition in making
informed decisions about her health. A face to face encounter at this point is required to assist the
woman in internalizing the information. She has received. The counseling session provide a woman’s
medical history, family history, values, preferences and concern. Respondents are given a chance to
ask questions for clarifications. The objective of counseling therefore addresses women’s questions
and concerns, providing patient education, facilitating informed decision making and enhancing the
patient’s confidence in the decision made and in her ability to carry it out or modify it over time.
Keywords: menopause, Attitudes, Midlife, Aging, counseling Assertiveness Training, Cognitive Re-Structuring,
Values Clarification.
INTRODUCTION
African society is much more permissive of aging in men.
Most positive traits associated with masculinity actually
increase with age e.g. competence, autonomy, self-
control and power, whereas feminine characteristics such
as sweetness, passivity, non-competitiveness and
gentleness usually remain stable as women age. Again,
women’s wisdom is considered to be age-old intuitive
knowledge about the emotions therefore aging is
believed to have added nothing to feminine knowledge.
But men valued for their rational, intellectual minds,
actually benefit from aging because experience tends to
increase this type of knowledge.
Schroots and Birren (1990) contend that aging may be
regarded as a process of progressive “desynchronization”
of the human system in its environment, nevertheless
within this process, the striving for synchronization and
order is maintained. Saucier (2004) also explained that
problems related to a woman’s realization that she no
longer conforms to society’s standards of youth and
beauty include low selfesteem, depression and anxiety.
These problems are basically because women seem to
be more vulnerable than men to the pressure from
society to conform to its expectations and as a result face
more questions of self-worth as they enter the middle