The Menopause Tsunami: Why Women Are Drowning in Noise, Not Clarity

Part 1 of a 7-Part Series on Menopause, Money, and the Midlife Truth Women Deserve.

For the first time in history, menopause is everywhere. Podcasts. TikTok. Instagram. Celebrity interviews. Wellness brands. Products you never knew existed. Supplements with bold promises. Influencers with contradicting advice.

We are living through a cultural shift, and menopause has finally entered the mainstream.

But visibility is not the same as clarity.

And right now, women are navigating something that feels less like an awakening… and more like a tsunami of noise, pressure, opinions, and products.

As a licensed clinical social worker who works with women every day and as someone walking this path myself, I’ve seen firsthand how overwhelming this landscape has become. Women are not just trying to understand their symptoms; they’re trying to sort through a flood of information that often leaves them feeling more confused, anxious, and alone.

Here’s the truth:

Menopause isn’t confusing because women aren’t informed.

It’s confusing because the information ecosystem is designed to confuse them.

The moment you search “menopause,” you’re hit with:

• opposite advice from equally confident “experts”

• supplements marketed as medical solutions

• skincare labeled “menopause-safe”

• influencers contradicting physicians

• algorithm-driven content shaped by engagement, not accuracy

• mixed messages from providers who lack formal training

• programs promising “balance” or “resetting your hormones” without evidence

Women aren’t imagining this. They’re not “overreacting.”They’re not being “dramatic.”

The system truly isn’t clear.

A 2019 study showed that only 7% of OB-GYN residents felt prepared to manage menopause. Only 1 in 5 residency programs teach it.

So, women turn to the internet not because they want to follow trends, but because they were dismissed or minimized in clinical settings.

And the internet, in turn, offers:

• noise

• fear

• urgency

• sales funnels

• and a marketplace that sees women as “high value consumers,” not people needing care

None of this is the woman’s fault.

She is trying to navigate a major physiologic transition in a system that wasn’t built to support her.

This 7-part series is my attempt to help women cut through the noise.With clarity.With evidence.With accessibility.With compassion.With the grounded perspective of a therapist who values ethics over algorithms, and education over hype.

Part 2 coming soon!