'Menopause made me feel like I couldn't cope'

A mother who was left "suicidal" by the menopause hopes new research will help women be treated more fairly in the workplace.

Karen Farquharson, 50, from Aberdeen, successfully sued for unfair dismissal and harassment after being told she used the menopause as an excuse for everything.

"Work-wise I just felt that I couldn't cope anymore," she said. "I just didn't know who I was."

"It just came crashing down, I didn't actually think I was a real person anymore," she told BBC Scotland News.

"It was just so harrowing. "The brain fog and the anxiety. Driving became a nightmare. Being in social situations became worse."

Now a new study involving Scottish researchers is looking at the scale of the mental health impact on women, and what support and policies are needed.

The menopause is when women's periods stop, the signal of the end of the reproductive years.