Midlife anxiety may have hormonal, psychological, medical, or situational causes.

Benzodiazepines can provide relief but carry risks including dependence and withdrawal.

Women seeking relief may turn to kratom, which varies in potency and carries health risks.

Understanding the source of distress can lead to more comprehensive treatment.

By Jana Wu, LCSW, LADC, ICAADC, CASAC

I have worked in mental health and substance use treatment for more than 15 years. As I approach 50, I keep returning to a question that feels both personal and professional: Why are we so quick to relieve women’s distress before we fully understand it?

Kratom is part of what brought this question into sharper focus for me.

I have met and worked with many women from their late 30s into their 60s who stumbled onto kratom while searching for relief from anxiety or pain. Many describe another benefit as well: energy. They often describe it not simply as a way to feel better, but as a way to keep functioning in lives that already feel stretched to their limits.

They tell me kratom helped them work, exercise, keep up with their children, care for aging parents, and continue meeting the demands of daily life.

Listening to these women has made me think about the much longer history of women, anxiety, and substances that promise relief.

A Long History of Treating Women’s Distress

The medical response to women’s anxiety did not begin with benzodiazepines. In the 19th century, diagnoses such as hysteria and neurasthenia........

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