Why Am I Doing Such Stupid Things? The Menopause Stupidity Tax

Let me tell you about last Thursday...

I locked my keys in my car. Nothing a call to the RAC wouldn't fix. Or so I thought.

Turns out locking keys in a car requires a locksmith. The lovely RAC man explained I'd probably be cheaper to get a taxi home and come back with the spare key.

Great.

Except my house key was with the car key.

In the car.

Doh!

Long story short, the night ended with me inviting myself to stay with a friend and rocking up with a few bottles of wine, which I'd never normally buy on a Thursday. I had to cancel my yoga class and refund my students because I couldn't physically get there in time with no car.

There's at least a £150 cost due to one mishap.

I call it the Menopause Stupidity Tax

I was never like this before perimenopause.

Doing stupid things that cost time, money, my dignity...

What is the Menopause Stupidity Tax?

I know I'm not stupid and I've never once thought there's something wrong with me. I have a load more stories like this and really, I find them funny rather than alarming.

My hormones made me do it!! Words I should have printed on a t-shirt.

Menopause can make you more prone to these moments of forgetfulness, distraction, poor concentration, brain fog...the list is endless.

And we, the menopausals, end up paying a price for it. The Menopause Stupidity Tax as I call it.

Just to be clear, we're not actually stupid. And the stupid thing we do isn't really the problem.

The tax comes in the form of the fallout. What those moments cost you afterwards: money, time, stress, embarrassment, inconvenience...sometimes for everyone around you too.

So, is this actually a menopause thing?

YES! Well, sort of.

Brain fog is a very real and very common menopause complaint...

🙈 You forget why you've walked into a room.

🙈 You give the strangest description of the word you're searching for ("the sole of your foot bit of your hand"... I believe I meant palm)

🙈 You start doing one thing, get distracted by something else and then can't remember what you were doing in the first place.

Sound familiar?

And there is actual research behind this. Large studies following women through the menopause transition have found changes in areas such as memory and processing speed, particularly in perimenopause.

So we're not imagining it. And we're certainly not becoming stupid.

Sleep, stress, mood and hormonal changes can all play a part too. Basically, our brains have enough going on without us losing our keys, forgetting appointments or accidentally buying the same thing twice.

And this is where the tax becomes a real thing.

Because the actual moment of forgetfulness is usually nothing. It's what comes afterwards that can cost you.

PS In my defence, I do think Audi should take some of the blame...why would you design a car that lets you close the boot and lock it while the keys are inside.

Perhaps they need a few more menopausal women in their design team.

Just saying.