Aimee Debow was giving a major presentation about a multibillion-dollar telecom merger to her executive team when words suddenly failed her.
asserted
words → give → her
She had been working on the project for months.
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She → work → months
She had a full team behind her.
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She → have → her
She had lived and breathed the material and knew it inside out.
asserted
She → live → it
“I went to present – and I could remember nothing,” she said, recalling that moment four years ago.
uncertain
she → go → moment
“Like, I could not give the presentation, and it was so difficult and so embarrassing.
uncertain
it → give → presentation
And that was the moment I said, ‘Okay, things have to change at work.
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things → say → work
She had suffered from sleeplessness for more than a decade – at times getting just three hours a day.
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She → suffer → hours
Through her early 40s to early 50s, she was exhausted.
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she → exhaust → 50s
She had heart palpitations, joint pain, night sweats, frozen shoulders (causing excruciating pain and stiffness), and, for the first time in her life, anxiety.
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She → have → life
She worried she had dementia.
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she → worry → dementia
She eventually left her Toronto job in 2022 after 26 years in the corporate world, at the height of her career.
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She → leave → career
It was only later that she learned, through her own research, that she was among the 25 per cent of women who suffer from severe menopausal symptoms.
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who → learn → symptoms
“At the time, I would have said the word burnt-out, but really it was I was just physically and emotionally overtaken by menopause,” Ms. Debow said.
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Debow → say → menopause
Though menopause marks a year since the last menstrual period, which happens at the average age of 51, the term is often used to refer to the entire, multistep phase of life.
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term → mark → life
It begins with perimenopause in a woman’s 30s or more often her 40s.
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It → begin → 30s
After menopause comes postmenopause.
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postmenopause → come → menopause
Symptoms hit the majority of women between the ages of 45 and 55, when they are at the top of their game in skills, experience and seniority – and for those with children, just as child-care pressures may be easing up.
uncertain
pressures → hit → children
There are dozens of different symptoms, and their average duration is about seven years, though the effects can last for 10 years or more.
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effects → be → years
It’s not just about hot flashes.
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It → ’ → flashes
And half of women in Canada, according to one survey by the Menopause Foundation of Canada, say they are unprepared for this transition in life.
uncertain
they → accord → life
Some are trying to change that.
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Some → try → that
It is a growing topic in public discussions – in workplaces, governments and homes, in Canada and beyond.
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It → grow → Canada
Gen X and older millennial women have been bringing new prominence to the topic through online discussions, group chats, support groups and public events, putting their feet down after watching their mothers and grandmothers suffer in silence.
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mothers → bring → silence
They include high-profile people such as Naomi Watts, Michelle Obama, Shania Twain – and Melinda French Gates, who recently called for systemic change in menopause care in a New York Times op-ed.
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who → include → ed
The toll is massive: One estimate from the Menopause Foundation puts the cost of unmanaged symptoms at $3.5-billion a year to the Canadian economy.
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estimate → put → economy
Five million women in Canada’s labour market are over the age of 40 – one-quarter of the working population.
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women → work → population
Menopause symptoms cause some to reduce their hours, avoid promotions, change careers or drop out of the labour force altogether, according to the foundation, causing ripple effects for their financial security and retirement savings.
But the scale of the problem is hard to measure.
uncertain
scale → cause → problem
A dearth of research, awareness and workplace supports is affecting labour-market outcomes, said Pnina Alon-Shenker, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s department of law and business.
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Shenker → affect → law
She is the co-author of a study on menopause, work and legal protections that is soon to be published in the Dalhousie Law Journal.
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that → publish → Journal
“Think about the talent and the expertise and the institutional knowledge – that’s our loss.
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that → think → talent
It’s the loss for employers, but it’s a loss for society, and for the economy,” she said.
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she → ’ → economy
Britain and Australia are ahead of Canada in addressing the issue.
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Britain → address → issue
The U.K. recently became the first country in the world to write menopause into employment law, explicitly naming it in legislation.
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U.K. → become → legislation
Australia just started its first-ever national campaign on menopause.
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Australia → start → menopause
Canada doesn’t have any national strategy on menopause.
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Canada → have → menopause
It hasn’t had a national health campaign.
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It → have → campaign
Federal politicians are starting to take note, though.
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politicians → start → note
In June, a House of Commons standing committee on the status of women began hearings for its study on the labour-force impacts of menopause and perimenopause, mirroring a parliamentary inquiry Britain concluded in 2022.
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Britain → begin → 2022
(That committee’s report warned the impact of menopause was causing the economy to “haemorrhage talent.”)
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economy → warn → talent
…and 95 more, not listed.
