It also has a way of shrinking a woman’s world. When you’re running on disrupted sleep for weeks or months, you start making choices that preserve energy: you say no to things, withdraw from social engagement, stop doing the things that fill you up because the baseline cost of functioning is already high. The loneliness and disconnection that can come with midlife is often quietly amplified by sleep deprivation, and it’s worth naming that connection.

It’s the loneliness of a woman who has a full life on paper, maybe a partner, children, a career, a social media presence that would suggest she’s connected, and yet something feels quietly, persistently missing. The conversations she’s having don’t go very deep. The friendships that used to feel sustaining have drifted. She can’t quite remember the last time she felt truly known by someone.