Endometriosis can be disabling and affects women of childbearing age
annual leave , meaning that they don ’ t have any leave left for leisure .
These women can also be labelled as problematic by their employers , but they ’ re just victims affected by a disease . The problem is that many workers and employers believe it ’ s trivial to take leave for period pain , and they don ’ t sympathise with women because they often think women are either exaggerating or making up their symptoms just to take time off .
As a result , women don ’ t get much attention or support , and they also don ’ t talk about menstruation , so they just try to manage the pain . They end up suffering in silence , and this affects their mental health as well . Sometimes they blame themselves and go into depression .
These are the reasons it ’ s important to bring awareness to employers and HR managers so that they can be more understanding while allowing women with endometriosis to work from home as much as possible . Studies have shown that people who worked from home during the pandemic were more productive compared to when they were in the office . This is true for women with endometriosis as well because they don ’ t feel the pressure , and they can ease themselves as well as position themselves as they like . They can also have a heating pad and better manage their pain . As a result , their productivity improves .
Employers ’ understanding and support as both individuals and organisations would therefore make a great difference in their employees ’ wellbeing and productivity at work .
Are there other types of gynaecological pain that require more awareness ? One example is vaginismus , or the vagina tightening up when penetration is attempted , preventing women from having sexual intercourse because it causes a lot of pain . This can destroy marriages as a lot of women have it but are unable to talk about it due to embarrassment .
It ’ s a difficult topic , and it ’ s hard for patients to open up in front of doctors , but they should seek care because vaginismus can be treated , usually with talk therapy because most cases are due to psychological triggers . n
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com MAY 2022
57