Anxiety, depression and panic attacks may all be labelled as being menopausal symptoms and for some women it can be hard to sim­ply find a listening ear.

Certainly menopause can’t be blamed for every emotional upset, although some problems may be exacer­bated and long-standing problems become highlighted.

Any emotional upset of mine is brought about by contact with my adult daughter. I don’t know what the problem is – unless it’s karma for being so unfeeling toward my own mother. It’s true, it all comes back to haunt us.

I see menopause as marking the beginning of new free­dom, new choices and new challenges. My daughter sees me take one step nearer to my old age and this gives her the opportunity to try to organise my life.

I’ve just received my book package from Amazon and it includes Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story. I’ll let you know what I think of it when I finish. There may be some secret I can pick up about healthy mother-daughter relationships.