Men and menopause: a hot topic for couples

A man can be deeply affected by his partner’s menopausal symptoms, all the more so if he is struggling to understand what is happening to her. Sharon Ní Chonchúir asks experts for advice on how males can navigate this often challenging transition

Brenda Rock and her husband Goulwen Personnic photographed in Slane, County Meath. Photo: Barry Cronin

A man can be deeply affected by his partner’s menopause. Just ask 49-year-old John Peake from Rathoath, Co Meath. At one point his wife Rachel’s mood swings were so extreme, he worried about her mental health. “One time, she was so angry that she threw me out of the car in a shopping centre car park,” he says.

Rachel was 39 at the time and John put her moods down to the exhaustion that comes from working full-time while also caring for three young children.