Time January 27, 2020 pp48-51 “The Sleepless Generation”. “What’s keeping middle-aged women up at night?” By Ada Calhoun-adapted from her new book “Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis”.
GenX women born 1965-1980 (40-55YO), are sleeping less than prior and current generations-waking middle of the night glancing at their cell phones then ruminating about current income, wondering when they will pay off the mortgage and what will be remaining in their retirement accounts etc. In many objective ways, life has improved but feelings about wellbeing are below expectations. For earlier generations, decades past in a seemingly orderly way-went to college or not, got married, raised children and were empty-nesters by age 40 possibly working some outside the home. Now, if at all, first marriage happens later in life as many women pursue graduate degrees and careers. By age 40 one may still be managing teenagers and even elders along with being a partner in a dual income (DINC) relationship. DINC once a very stable strategy now is also stressing due to “corporate downsizing”, the “gig economy”, and higher costs for housing, healthcare and living. Coincident with all this is naturally-derived stress brought on by being of peri-menopause or menopause age. The decline of progesterone and estrogen with the onset of menopause disrupts nominal patterns of sleep as well. No wonder a GenX women might be losing sleep! Besides knowing you are not alone in your struggle, potential remedies include, melatonin, Ambien, CBD oil, noise cancelling headphones, mindfulness, meditation, anti-depressants and Hormone-Replacement-Therapy. See the article and book for more.