George Clooney's Ex Lisa Snowdon Reveals How Menopause Made Her Contemplate Taking Her Own Life | "Overwhelming Sadness"

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of depression, mental health issues, and suicidal thoughts that some readers may find distressing.

Lisa Snowdon talks about how menopause left her feeling quite devastated that she even considered suicide at times. The 51-year-old ITV presenter, who dated George Clooney for five years until 2006, opened up in an interview with Fabulous Magazine that the natural condition had an effect on every facet of her life, including her career and love life. But the biggest blow was when physicians told her about the effect on her fertility.

When physicians informed her that she would not be able to conceive after her menopause, it was extremely distressing for her. "All my life, I thought I was going to be a mum. I didn't have any burning ambition to have a career, but I've always been maternal and I really wanted kids. But I just ran out of time, unfortunately. The decision was taken away from me."

She opened up about menopause symptoms, such as night sweats and hot flashes, which kept her up at night and made her feel drowsy and distracted during the day. She found it difficult to concentrate at work. "I had days so dark that I thought: 'If this is what my life looks like, then I can't do it,'" she shared.

She talked about understanding that a lot of women reach this stage where they don't want to be. "There were definitely times where I was like, 'I don't think I can do this anymore'. I was just floored with overwhelming sadness and these dark moods." She added that it has taken her 10 years to be able to handle the things that were happening to her. "I went to rock bottom, but coming out the other side feels like a really powerful place to be."

In an interview with Women's Health in December 2022, Lisa Snowdon described her experience, saying, "Looking back, I had vertigo, then my cycles were going all over the place. I definitely had low mood, depression, anxiety, panic attacks. And so I went to the doctor and he prescribed me antidepressants, and that was my first foray into the perimenopausal world."

She emphasized that women often assume that their periods will simply stop and they might experience occasional hot flushes. However, she expressed her astonishment, saying, "It's so strange, you get to your early 40s, and then all of a sudden, you can't cope. There's got to be a reason. It's not that we're not all just all of a sudden, depressed."

The decline in estrogen levels is responsible for cognitive difficulties, such as brain fog as well as anxiety and sudden surges around the heart when falling asleep. She personally experienced these symptoms, noting, "I had all of that. And it's weird, because the symptoms come, and then some of them go, and then something else comes in its place. And then that goes, and you are kind of juggling, and you're kind of managing, but it's not a good quality of life, and it's really hard to push on through."

If you are having thoughts about taking your own life, or know of anyone who is, please contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)

References:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/22382799/lisa-snowdon-menopause-hell/

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/health/female-health/a42164458/lisa-snowdon-menopause/

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Jeff Spicer