Naomi Watts felt “out of control” going through early menopause at 36 years old.

The 54-year-old actress told Hello! magazine that she felt like she was “spiraling out of control” while experiencing early menopause symptoms.

“Going through menopause at such a young age was not easy, especially during a time when there was so little information available about it,” the Mulholland Drive actor confessed. “Mood swings, night sweats, and migraines… I was feeling like I was spiraling out of control.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, menopause occurs when a person has missed 12 consecutive menstrual periods – usually between the ages of 40 and 60.

Naomi told the publication that going through the hormonal changes earlier than she expected led to a sense of “freedom” and a “deeper understanding of myself”.

She added, “I had those voices in the back of my mind reminding me how old women are let out to pasture, but there was a lure to this desire to be authentic, to crawl from behind the invisible wall and just acknowledge for myself something that everyone could have probably guessed.”

Her experience led her to partner with Menopause Mandate – a nonprofit organisation aiming to revolutionise midlife support available for American women.

“I truly believe that if menopause hadn’t been such an off-limits topic when I first started experiencing symptoms, I would’ve had an easier transition,” Naomi asserted. “I was part of a cycle that desperately needed to be broken.”

– Cover Media