New social community launched to support women going through the menopause called Peanut

Two thirds of women going through menopause experience depression, a survey found

A woman smiles under neon lights (Getty Images)

Women’s social network Peanut has launched a new community dedicated to helping people navigate the different stages of menopause.

From 1 September, members of the app can join Peanut Menopause, where they can connect with other women experiencing perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause.

Peanut, which was founded in 2017 by CEO Michelle Kennedy, is a social network for women who want to discuss fertility, motherhood and other aspects of womanhood.

The creation of Peanut Menopause comes after a survey of 1,039 women aged between 40 and 65 from across the US identified that most of them felt either isolated, uncertain, angry or as if they had experienced a loss at various stages of menopause.

The platform aims to encourage conversation and destigmatise menopause after finding that almost one in three women had never sought information about menopause until they experienced it.

Additionally, 73 per cent of women who are currently going through menopause said they were not treating it.

Changes to mental health were also common amongst the women surveyed.

Two-thirds experiencing menopause suffered from depression, while 10-20 per cent of perimenopausal women experienced anxiety or depression for the first time.

Kennedy said Peanut’s menopause feature will give women a “safe space” to connect.

“With a life change that impacts 50 per cent of the population, the global population, the absence of a women-only safe community to discuss menopause is suppressive and wrong. How can we ignore the needs of one billion women? How and why do we get to midlife without support for the seismic life changes?”

“The launch of Peanut Menopause is our opportunity to open up the conversation. It’s our duty to ensure no woman has to figure out menopause alone,” Kennedy said.

In July, the UK’s Women and Equalities Committee launched an inquiry to examine the extent of discrimination women face going through menopause in the workplace.

It comes after a 2019 survey, conducted by private healthcare provider BUPA and the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development, found that almost 900,000 women aged between 45 and 55 in the UK left their jobs over an undefined time period because of menopausal symptoms.

This could mean that women are leaving businesses “at the peak of their experience”, the committee said.

“Women in this age group are likely to be eligible for senior management roles, and so their exit can lessen diversity at executive levels. It can also contribute to the gender pay gap and feed into a disparity in pensions,” it added.

The committee is currently accepting evidence from the public until 17 September.