We believe this article will resonate with many animal health pros despite its title containing the F word. Author, Ellen Scherr, LCPC, is a therapist who helps women navigate midlife transitions and the time when suddenly you can’t tolerate anyone’s BS.
Scherr describes the neuroscience of why some individuals suddenly can’t pretend anymore and why women experience it more intensely. It’s that point in midlife when your capacity to pretend, perform and please others starts shorting out like an electrical system that’s finally had enough.
Source: Life Branches, November 13, 2025. Link. Several neurological and hormonal shifts converge in midlife that contribute to this phenomenon which is described as “losing your filter.” Scherr says,”The filter you’re losing wasn’t protecting you. It was protecting everyone else from your truth.”
Women’s brains are particularly wired for social harmony and caregiving in the first half of life; driven partly by estrogen and oxytocin. But as estrogen levels shift in perimenopause and beyond, this intense drive to please and nurture others begins to diminish. What replaces it isn’t bitterness. It’s clarity.” – Louann Brizendine, MD
INSIGHTS: What Scherr describes also occurs in men and is sometimes known as grumpy old man syndrome <Link>.