Menopause is now a disability (UK)

[V8Granite]

Yes, decreasing testosterone. You'd hope with equality these days that it would also be taken into account.

It’s also a reason that lots of men between 45 and 50 kill themselves.

After seeing the affects on someone the menopause isn’t talked about enough with couples. I bet the divorce rate instigated by women would reduce hugely if it was more openly discussed and understood by both sides.

A disability ? Not at all, there should just be the help for both sides to get through it.

Dave!

Who are you and what have you done with Dave? Surely 'man up' is the answer?

It’s seeing a couple of good marriages fail where the woman now massively regrets her decision.

Men need to not be scared of talking to her about it and the woman needs to listen.
Women need to explain to the man what’s happening and men need to listen.

So I suppose they both need to man/ woman up

I married a ginger bird from Essex, I’ve been preparing for this to happen with rigorous exercise, blocking and evading drills and my suit of armour will be here from Wish soon !!

Dave!

[Gavster]

From the cdc website (though every other definition is similar).

A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).

Is there any wording around it being chronic or permanent ? Because according to that wording above, having a cold is a disability, but I doubt anyone gets a blue parking permit for it. To my mind a disability needs to be something that affects a person permanently.

If we use UK definitions instead of US, the Equality Act 2010 states:

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

What ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ mean
‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed

‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection

There are special rules about recurring or fluctuating conditions, eg arthritis.

Google says menopause can last up to 14 years in the most extreme cases. That's pretty lengthy!

[DeskJockey]

We had a seminar about it at work yesterday. It was quite interesting. Menopause is apparently medically defined as a single day event, a year to the day after the last period. But, as Gavster says the "process" leading up to that can take many, many years.

[IanF]

Lots of women stay on HRT for more than a decade.. combatting mental impairment , physical exhaustion, emotional distress for them and others - I’d say it qualifies as a disability. My company has been very proactive with this.. others won’t until it is required by law.

“Bitches be crazy anyway” doesn’t seem to be the typical response on this forum.. what an enlightened bunch you are!

[Rich B]

“Bitches be crazy anyway” doesn’t seem to be the typical response on this forum.. what a bunch of men in their 40s and 50s with wives you are!

efa!

[NGRhodes]

Based on my experience over the last 2 years, I have found the current legal definition to be workable (I don't want to generalise as I have a very unique combination of medical conditions), that is considering a disability on how it affects your daily life.

If I had adjustments made on generic categorisations of my medical diagnosis's, I would have been written off work for months at a time. Subtle adjustments would not have been recognised as needed and cause unnecessary challenges.

It's important (for both the employer and employee) to track the symptoms and how the effect one's ability to do their work. Health conditions change, work changes, the adjustments needed will probably change with time.
I have a regular 3 month check in with HR and we probably make tweaks to my adjustments every 6 months. These regular checkins have been great for tracking how things have changed, many of them are subtle and without a review I would not have noticed, remembered, or reported.

[mik]

“Bitches be crazy anyway” doesn’t seem to be the typical response on this forum..

Dayumm - that was gonna be option # 5