Midlife can bring an unsettling realisation for many women: the years spent caring for others, raising children, managing work, running households and maintaining family life have taken a toll on their bodies.

Women in midlife may face a greater risk of chronic health issues due to decades of what psychologists call “self-silencing” – putting others’ needs first and holding back your own feelings. This pattern prioritises caregiving and maintaining harmony in relationships, often leading women to suppress their own needs, avoid conflict and hold back their true feelings.

Common forms of self-silencing include pleasing people, suppressing emotions, inhibiting self-expression and carefully monitoring what they say in order to avoid upsetting others.

Midlife itself is a period of significant transition, involving physical, hormonal, social and psychological changes. For women who tend to self-silence, this stage of life can bring additional strain. Studies show they may report greater mental and physical health symptoms, such as low mood, fatigue, poor sleep and increased aches and pains.

A growing number of studies suggest that long-term patterns of emotional suppression and stress in relationships are associated with a range of health problems, including depression, heart disease and stroke. Some research has also associated these patterns with metabolic conditions such as diabetes and chronic inflammatory illnesses, including autoimmune disorders and cancer.

Although these studies...

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