Imposter Syndrome During Perimenopause: Why Self-Doubt Spikes and How to Reclaim Your Confidence
Imposter syndrome often intensifies in perimenopause. Find out why hormone changes fuel self-doubt at work and in life, and what you can do about it.
Suddenly doubting yourself after years of competence
You have been doing your job well for years. You know your subject, your colleagues respect you, and your track record speaks for itself. Then perimenopause arrives, and suddenly you feel like a fraud. You second-guess decisions you would previously have made confidently. You over-prepare for meetings. You find yourself wondering when people will realise you don't know what you're doing. Imposter syndrome is not new to perimenopause, but it often intensifies sharply during this transition, and the reasons why are worth understanding.
How hormones affect your sense of competence
Estrogen supports the production and regulation of serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitters closely linked to confidence, motivation, and mood. As estrogen fluctuates during perimenopause, so does your internal baseline of assurance. Brain fog, another common perimenopause symptom, can make you forget words, lose your train of thought, or struggle to retrieve information quickly. When this happens in a professional context, it feels like evidence that you are no longer capable, even when the reality is that your cognitive function is largely intact but temporarily disrupted.
The timing makes it worse
Perimenopause typically arrives during a career phase when the stakes are high. Many women at this life stage are in senior roles, managing significant responsibility, or making important decisions. The pressure to perform is greater than it was ten years ago, while the internal support that estrogen provided to cognitive confidence is fluctuating. It is a difficult combination. Add the social reality that many workplaces do not openly acknowledge or accommodate perimenopause, and you have a situation where women are left to navigate a significant neurological change in silence. The invisibility of the cause means that imposter syndrome in perimenopause often gets misattributed to stress, personal weakness, or simply getting older, none of which are accurate and all of which make it harder to address effectively.
Separating symptom from reality
Imposter syndrome thinking is characterised by attributing your successes to luck and your setbacks to fundamental inadequacy. This pattern exists in many people long before perimenopause, but it tends to get louder when your brain's self-regulation resources are stretched. A useful check is to look at the evidence. What is your actual track record? What feedback have you received over time? What decisions have you made that turned out well? The thoughts that feel most convincing in the grip of perimenopause anxiety are often the least accurate.
Practical strategies at work
Keeping a record of your contributions is genuinely helpful. Note achievements, positive feedback, and problems you have solved. When imposter thinking flares, you have concrete evidence to weigh against it. Being selective about when you take on new challenges can also reduce the pressure. This is not permanent avoidance, it is recognising that perimenopause is a period of adjustment and you do not need to prove yourself by stretching further than is sustainable right now. Talk to trusted colleagues where possible. You may find that your self-doubt is not visible to others in the way it feels internally.
Tracking your patterns helps
Imposter syndrome during perimenopause often fluctuates with your hormonal cycle. Self-doubt may be most intense on certain days or after a run of broken sleep. Using PeriPlan to log your mood and symptoms daily can help you spot when your confidence dips most reliably. When you can see that your worst self-doubt correlates with specific hormonal or sleep patterns, it becomes less convincing as a truth about your capabilities and more recognisable as a symptom to navigate. This pattern recognition can also give you language to explain your experience to a GP or therapist, making it easier to get the specific support that will actually help rather than generic stress management advice.
Getting the support you deserve
If imposter syndrome is significantly affecting your career decisions or wellbeing, working with a coach or therapist can be transformative. Cognitive behavioural therapy is effective for the thought patterns involved. Some women also find that HRT reduces the neurological basis for the self-doubt they experience, because stabilising estrogen reduces the anxiety and cognitive disruption that feed it. Speak to your GP about your options. Your competence has not disappeared. Your brain is navigating a significant transition, and it deserves the same consideration you would extend to any other system under pressure.
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