🎙️ Unapologetically Imperfect – Hormone Headlines

S2, Ep 3: (10) Perimenopausal Mood Swings & Identity Shifts

Segment: Hormone Headlines

Seasonal Arc: Summer – Expansion

🔗 Links & Resources

• 💬 Join The Balanced Life Lab – Jen’s private support hub for women navigating perimenopause, ADHD, executive dysfunction, and brain fog.
• Learn more here
• 🎧 Spread the word: If this episode hit home, share it with someone else navigating this messy, magnificent midlife shift.

💥 Episode Summary

One minute you’re fine. The next you’re sobbing over a commercial, questioning your career, snapping at your partner, and wondering who the hell you even are anymore. Sound familiar? Welcome to perimenopause—the emotional rollercoaster and identity earthquake no one warned you about.

In this Hormone Headlines episode, Jen dives into why midlife mood swings aren’t just hormonal—they’re biological, neurological, and deeply existential. She blends science and lived experience to help you understand what’s happening and what to do about it. No gaslighting, no fluff—just nervous system strategies and identity-level truth bombs.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• Why mood swings in midlife are not you being “too emotional”
• How estrogen crashes affect your brain chemistry (dopamine + serotonin)
• What identity shifts look like—and why they’re normal, not failure
• Why mindset work won’t work without nervous system regulation
• How to stop internalizing biological changes as personal flaws

🔧 Tools & Frameworks Mentioned

• Polyvagal Theory – Why emotional regulation breaks down under threat
• Cognitive Behavioral Theory – How thoughts → emotions → behavior loops
• Self-Efficacy Theory – Why failed systems destroy confidence
• Energy Mapping – Track your real rhythms and work with them
• MVP Menus – Productivity options for high, medium, and low-capacity days
• Reset Rituals – Small actions to transition, decompress, and recenter

⚡ Identity ≠ Mood

Your mood is data—not your whole truth. Jen breaks down how hormonal shifts distort perception and why most women misread emotional chaos as identity collapse. This episode helps you separate who you feel like in the moment from who you actually are underneath the static.

🌀 Season Note

Season 2 is a 5-week bridge: Summer – Expansion. It’s not about blowing up your life—it’s about rebuilding systems that hold you when your hormones don’t.

👋 Stay Connected

New episodes drop every Monday (Hormone Headlines) and Thursday (Functioning-ish).

Follow the show to get honest tools, clear science, and real-life systems—without pretending any of this is easy.

You don’t need discipline. You need support that actually works.