Winter Seasonal Affective Disorder: Impact on women over 40
January 29, 2026
|
5m
:fill(white)/https://www.serenova.co.uk/static/cms/media/pexels-kristingroth2-57686.jpg)
Our sleep expert, Kerry Davies, dives into Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and how it impacts women over 40, while also sharing useful tips to help you fight off winter depression.
Why winter hits women over 40 harder
Women in midlife sit at the intersection of powerful forces that all influence sleep, energy and mood.
1. Hormonal shifts (perimenopause & menopause)
During midlife, sleep naturally becomes lighter, more easily disrupted and more sensitive to heat, stress, and noise. As a result, it leaves women vulnerable to early waking and more prone to “tired but wired” evenings.
In addition, perimenopause and menopause change the way your sleep cycle behaves. Then winter arrives and amplifies everything.
:fill(white)/https://www.serenova.co.uk/static/cms/media/pexels-zak-hrovat-2148386912-30298727-(1).jpg)
2. The “Mid-Light Shift”: your delayed winter body clock
Dark mornings reduce exposure to daylight, which your brain relies on to regulate:
• Melatonin (sleepiness hormone)
• Serotonin (mood, motivation, emotional regulation)
• Circadian rhythm (your internal 24-hour clock)
When daylight drops, melatonin stays higher for longer, serotonin activity can decrease and your internal clock drifts later.
As a result, your brain simply doesn’t receive the same “wake up now” signals and this leads to slow, foggy mornings; lower mood; feeling disconnected; sluggish motivation; difficulty feeling “awake” and being out of sync with yourself.
This isn’t mindset.
This isn’t weakness.
This is physiology.
3. S.A.D. is not just about mood; it’s often a circadian timing issue
Although the exact cause of SAD isn’t fully understood, the strongest link is reduced sunlight exposure.
Lower daylight affects the hypothalamus; the part of the brain responsible for regulating hormones, mood and sleep.
As a result:
• Melatonin increases, making you feel sleepy
• Serotonin decreases, lowering mood
• Your circadian rhythm shifts later
• Your sleep becomes lighter and more irregular
And, for some people, SAD has a genetic component. It can run in families, suggesting certain nervous systems are more sensitive to seasonal light changes.
This means your sleep might feel more restless, more shallow, less restorative, too early or too late, and unpredictable.
But your sleep isn’t broken - your body is responding exactly as a human body responds when daylight reduces and hormones shift.
4. The emotional load of the Sandwich Generation
The ‘Sandwich Generation’ is a term which refers to women who are balancing looking after aging parents with the challenges of raising their kids.
As such, many midlife women are quietly carrying the additional strain this period of life can bring, as well as demanding jobs, running a busy household, the emotional labour of “thinking of everything” and the invisible mental load nobody talks about.
When sleep naturally becomes lighter in midlife, the weight of responsibility feels heavier - not because you’re less capable, but because you’re human and you’re doing too much on too little rest.
5. We were taught to push through
Many of us grew up with phrases such as:
“Keep going.”
“Don’t make a fuss.”
“Everyone’s tired.”
“Be strong.”
This means for many of us, we override tiredness, we ignore early signals, we minimise our own needs and we push instead of pause.
But sleep hasn’t stopped working - it’s just working differently now.
:fill(white)/https://www.serenova.co.uk/static/cms/media/pexels-taryn-elliott-4231477.jpg)
What’s rarely said out loud
Midlife winter tiredness is often dismissed as “low mood,” “stress,” or “just winter”, but women deserve a deeper, more compassionate explanation.
You’re not supposed to feel the same all year round
Humans were never meant to live in endless summer mode. Winter is a season of slowing down, and your body still follows that ancient blueprint.
Your nervous system is more sensitive in midlife
Midlife is a period when you’re more easily pushed out of sync by stress, lack of light and disruption. However, it’s important to remember that you’re not weaker. Instead you’re often more responsive and more attuned to your body and your surroundings.
Three things to remember:
1. Feeling heavy does not mean you’re failing
It often means you’re conserving energy, regulating hormones and adapting.
2. Sleeping more doesn’t always mean feeling rested
Longer sleep in winter is normal but lighter sleep is also normal.
3. You don’t need more pressure; you need less
Winter is not the season for rigid routines or optimising your sleep.
It’s a season for gentleness.
Let's keep it simple, with a few easy tips and tricks:
1. Morning daylight (your winter anchor)
Maximise the light we do have. Try stepping outside as early as you can. You don’t have to walk, but wrap up with a coffee and stand in the daylight if you prefer.
Daylight stabilises your mood, strengthens your circadian rhythm and kick-starts alertness.
2. Keep your wake-up time steady
It doesn’t need to be perfect each day, just similar, with a steady-ish wake time each morning. This will help to anchor your internal clock, regulate your hormones, support energy levels and improve your sleep timing naturally. It’s one of the simplest and most effective tools we have.
3. Soften your evenings
Winter makes this easier, but to lean into this, it helps to keep lights dim, avoid overstimulation, let the evening be slow and quiet, and choose a gentle pace instead of a productive one. Your nervous system responds far better to softness than strictness.
4. Choose one or two comforting, calming rituals
No need to stress about forming 10 complicated rituals. Instead, focus on just one or two things that bring warmth, ease and a sense of safety.
These could include reading, watching gentle TV, enjoying a warm bath, listening to low arousal music, cosying up with some blankets, lighting a few candles, a tidy room, a quiet conversation, doing some colouring, stretching or enjoying a warm drink.
These are not luxuries, these are nervous system regulators, and when your nervous system settles, sleep follows.
5. Don’t chase sleep. Let it come to you
Sleep doesn’t respond to force. Instead, it responds to calm, warmth, consistency, steadiness, safety and ease.
When the pressure comes down, sleep comes closer.
Your take-home message
The message I want every woman over 40 to carry with her into winter is this:
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with you.
Winter changes your biology. Midlife changes your biology. Responsibility changes the effort your body needs just to get through the day.
Remember, you’re not tired because you’re failing, you’re tired because your body is asking, often pleading for gentleness, lightness, steadiness, less pressure and more softness.
You do not have to change everything.
You do not need to try harder.
And you do not need to turn sleep into a task.
Simply support your rhythm.
It’s important to keep things steady, be kinder to your nervous system and to choose the things that bring you comfort, warmth, calm and joy. Let rest feel safe again, and in turn, your body will respond.
Sleep is far more likely to follow when you create ease, and your body remembers exactly how to sleep when pressure drops and softness rises.
You’re not broken.
You’re adapting.
And you’re allowed to adapt gently.
More to explore: