Why don't we know about this stuff? A few reasons, really.
For a long time, women didn't live that long. Or many of them didn't.
My mom went through menopause in her late 50s. Yay. I was 30+ years old and living on my own by then, across the country.
My mom just didn't talk about that kind of stuff. You know, didn't want to be weak. This is pretty common.
Women just didn't work, or didn't work in high powered jobs in their 50s so much before.
My MIL went through it at the same time, and I mentioned my mom's depression. SHE said that for her, it was anxiety. Like, she would suddenly become really really anxious, and intellectually, she knew it was for NO GOOD REASON. So she went on some medication.
I've been going to peri symptoms for years. Doc has often recommended running marathons...body can't take that. I went on an SNRI for mood swings, and it's helped a lot. No hot flashes yet, but I'm still 5 years away or so from when my mom hit menopause. 51 is the average, but my mom was 56-57.