Hollywood star Naomi Watts has revealed she felt like her life was ‘spiralling out of control’ after she went through menopause at the age of 36.
The former Home & Away star turned Oscar-nominated actress revealed the uncomfortable symptoms she experienced and said they were made worse by the taboo of not being able to discuss it.
Now 54 and married to US actor William Crudup, Watts said: “I truly believe that if menopause hadn’t been such an off-limits topic when I first started experiencing symptoms, I would’ve had an easier transition.
“I was part of a cycle that desperately needed to be broken. There was a lack of open conversation and resources to help women navigate the changes we go through. That’s why I’m now so passionate about raising awareness and encouraging more honest conversations.”
Sharing the physical symptoms of her body’s change, the X-Men Origins: Wolverine actress said: “Going through menopause at such a young age was not easy, especially during a time when there was so little information available about it.
“Mood swings, night sweats, and migraines… I was feeling like I was spiralling out of control.
“I truly believe that if menopause hadn’t been such an off-limits topic when I first started experiencing symptoms, I would’ve had an easier transition.
“I was part of a cycle that desperately needed to be broken. There was a lack of open conversation and resources to help women navigate the changes we go through. That’s why I’m now so passionate about raising awareness and encouraging more honest conversations.”
Now breaking the taboo by supporting charity menopausemandate.com, the mum-of-two, who used to be married to star Liev Schreiber, said going through the journey led her “to a deeper understanding of myself”.
“I came out on the other side feeling more authentically me,” she said.
“A lot of freedom came in the self-acknowledgement. I had those voices in the back of my mind reminding me how old women are let out to pasture, but there was a lure to this desire to be authentic, to crawl from behind the invisible wall and just acknowledge for myself something that everyone could have probably guessed.”