Moody Bitches: The Truth about the Drugs You’re Taking, the Sleep You’re Missing, the Sex You’re Not Having and What’s Really Making You Crazy.... Julie Holland

      

Also by Julie Holland

       Weekends at Bellevue

       Copyright

      Thorsons

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Published in the US by Penguin Press 2015

      First published in the UK by Thorsons 2015

      © Julie Holland 2015

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future edition of this book.

      Julie Holland asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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      Source ISBN: 9780007554126

      EBook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780007554133

      Version: 2015-02-20

       For Sara Starr Wolff, teacher, therapist, and gardener, who wanted what she had, and said what she meant. And for her son, Jeremy, whose shining love and acceptance allow me to blossom.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Also by Julie Holland

Copyright

       Dedication

Introduction

Part One Moody by Nature

One Own Your Moods

Two Bitchy Like Clockwork

Part Two Mating, MILFs, Monogamy, and Menopause

Three This Is Your Brain on Love

Four Marriage and Its Discontents

Five Motherhead

Six Perimenopause: The Storm Before the Calm

       Part Three The Moody Bitches Survival Guide

       Seven Inflammation: The Key to Everything

       Eight Food: A Drug We Can’t Resist

       Nine So Tired We’re Wired

       Ten A Sex Guide That Actually Works

       Eleven Your Body: Love It or Leave It

       Twelve You. Need. Downtime.

       Conclusion: Staying Sane in an Insane World

       Appendix: Naming Names: A Guide to Selected Drugs

       Notes

       Glossary

       List of Searchable Terms

       Acknowledgments

       About the Publisher

Introduction

      Women today are overworked and exhausted. We are anxious and frazzled, yet depressed and burned out. Our moods and libidos are at a rock-bottom low, our vital energies drained as we struggle to keep up with work, family, and hundreds of “friends” online. We blame ourselves for how bad we feel, thinking we should be able to handle it all. We dream of being perfect; we even try to make it look effortless, but we were never meant to be so static. We are designed by nature to be dynamic, cyclical, and, yes, moody. We are moody bitches, and that is a strength—not a weakness.

      We evolved that way for good reasons; our hormonal oscillations are the basis for a sensitivity that allows us to be responsive to our environment. Our dynamism imparts flexibility and adaptability. Being fixed and rigid does not lend itself to survival. In nature, you adapt or you die. There is tremendous wisdom and peace available to us if we learn how our brains and bodies are supposed to work. Moodiness—being sensitive, caring deeply, and occasionally being acutely dissatisfied—is our natural source of power.

      Yet we have been told just the opposite. From a young age, we are taught that moodiness, and all that comes with it, is a bad thing. We learn to apologize for our tears, to suppress our anger, and to fear being