Why So Many Women Feel Anxious Right Now
— Even When Life Looks ‘Fine’
Have you noticed this lately?
You wake up and nothing is particularly wrong… but you don’t feel settled either. Your mind is busy before the day has even begun. You’re getting on with life, doing what needs to be done, showing up — yet underneath it all there’s this quiet sense of unease.
Not panic.
Just tension.
Can you relate to that?
Lately, I’m hearing this again and again from women — especially women over 40. Speaking personally, I’ve definitely felt this.
What’s interesting is that this kind of anxiety often shows up without a clear reason. Life might look fine on the outside. Nothing dramatic is happening, yet your body feels like it’s bracing for something. Have you ever wondered why that is?
Here’s the part I found incredibly validating. Research shows that our nervous system doesn’t just respond to danger, it responds even more strongly to uncertainty. In fact, a well-known body of research on what’s called “intolerance of uncertainty” (led by researcher Dr. Michel Dugas and later expanded by Dr. Robert Leahy and others) shows that when the brain can’t predict what’s coming next, it stays on high alert, even if nothing bad is actually happening.
So if you’ve ever felt anxious without being able to explain why, this matters:
it’s not weakness, it’s BIOLOGY.
Neuroscience studies have also shown that uncertainty activates the same threat pathways in the brain as actual danger. The amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for keeping us safe, doesn’t like “not knowing.” It would rather prepare for the worst than relax into the unknown. Have you noticed how hard it is to truly switch off lately?
Now add midlife into the mix.
For many women over 40, this season of life comes with a lot of quiet change. Shifting identities, changing bodies, different family dynamics, bigger questions about what’s next.
Even if things are good, they’re often less predictable. Research suggests that prolonged uncertainty keeps stress hormones elevated over time, which shows up not as panic, but as exhaustion, overthinking, irritability, and that constant feeling of being “on.”
Does that sound familiar?
What’s important to understand is this: your anxiety isn’t a personal failing. It’s not because you’re not grateful enough or resilient enough or positive enough. It’s your nervous system responding to a world — and a life stage — that feels less certain than it used to.
Here’s the part I really want you to hear.
This doesn’t mean something is wrong with you.
It means your system is asking for something different.
Not more pushing.
Not more coping.
But more steadiness. More grounding. More internal safety.
So let me ask you, have you been feeling this too? That low-level anxiety that’s hard to explain? That sense of always being slightly on edge, even when life looks okay on paper?
If so, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep carrying it quietly.
This is the conversation I want us to keep having, honestly, gently, together.
I'd love to know, does this kind of anxiety shows up for you too?
What helps you feel a little more grounded when it does?
"If this resonates with you, I've created a free resource called The Self-Doubt Disruptor. Download it here" 👇
