Episode 3: Anxiety & Perimenopause—What’s Really Going On
Welcome back to Burn the Rule Book, the podcast where we explore menopause, mental health, and relationships—one truth at a time. In this episode, host Rachel Boyle—licensed couples and sex therapist, and certified menopause specialist—dives into how anxiety can suddenly appear or intensify during perimenopause.
You'll learn:
What’s actually happening to your brain during menopause (spoiler: it’s not just in your head)
How hormonal changes, especially declining estrogen, affect mood, memory, and emotional regulation
The real story behind hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and how it may help with anxiety
Practical, science-backed tools you can use right now to calm your nervous system
Rachel also introduces techniques like bilateral stimulation, box breathing, and five-senses grounding—simple but powerful methods rooted in trauma therapy and neuroscience.
Whether you’ve dealt with anxiety for years or are feeling it for the first time, this episode offers insight, validation, and support. You're not broken—you're going through a major neurological shift, and you're not alone.
🎧 Listen now, share with a friend, and check the show notes for links to the books mentioned: The Menopause Brain by Dr. Lisa Mosconi and Estrogen Matters by Dr. Avrum Bluming.