#011: We See You. You Are Not Alone

• 1 in 2 women feel they’ve lost their sense of self during perimenopause.
• 60% report overwhelming perimenopause anxiety.
• 3 in 4 feel that perimenopause has negatively impacted their lives.
• Over half feel less confident than before.
• 72% believe significant societal stigma surrounds perimenopause.

It’s heavy, right?

These aren’t merely statistics; they reflect the narratives and experiences of perimenopause confidence loss from real women—women like you and me.

Women with ambitions, dreams, and goals. Strong women. Self-assured women. Women at the pinnacle of their careers, who have toiled and persevered against the systems and barriers that have opposed them at every turn.

When perimenopause is spoken about, the focus is predominantly on the physical symptoms: the hot flushes, the bloating, and the decreased libido. What is rarely spoken about is the emotional toil that perimenopause takes on the women going through it.

We don’t witness the moments spent sitting on a ball in the living room, feeling as if the walls are closing in, uncertain of where to go or whom to seek help from.

We don’t hear about the sheer panic, the anxiety that comes from going from confidently leading a business, to no longer being able to finish a sentence.

We are not told about the women whose relationships end because their partners don’t understand the transition they’re going through, or the fear and terror that these women experience because they don’t understand what is happening to them either.

These are stats and figures, but they are also stories.

Stories that people need to hear.

What can be done about confidence issues and anxiety in perimenopause?

At Valerie, we are here to shout about perimenopause. To show women that they are not alone and that there is a community of us ready to love and support them. We want to give women the tools and support to reclaim their health, take back control, and advocate for themselves at every stage of perimenopause.

These are their stories, these are our stories.

We see you.

Love, Valerie x

P.S. This is the beginning of something big, so please spread the word extensively - forward this email, share it across all your WhatsApp groups - as we want to get perimenopause spoken about, loudly.