Sleep and mood in midlife

During perimenopause and menopause many women find they wake often, get up tired, snap more easily and do not feel like themselves. Hormones are only part of it. Night sweats break up sleep, poor sleep drags down mood, and these years often pile together teenage children, ageing parents and work.

• Go to bed and get up at the same time each day.
• Skip caffeine after lunch and alcohol in the evening.
• Keep the bedroom cool, dark and quiet.
• Put your phone away before bed.
• If you cannot sleep, do not lie there for hours. Get up, do something calm, then go back.

For long-lasting insomnia, cognitive behavioural therapy works well. Loud snoring and heavy daytime sleepiness can point to a different cause, pauses in breathing during sleep, so mention those to a doctor too.

Movement, daylight, time with people you trust and protecting some time of your own all help. Hormone therapy can ease menopause-related mood changes for some women. Depression, however, has its own treatment, and a doctor can work out the right route with you.

If you have felt sad or hopeless for more than two weeks, and the things you used to enjoy no longer reach you, that is not a weakness of character. It is a health problem that belongs with a doctor. Tiredness can also come from thyroid problems or anaemia, which are simple to check.