Naomi Watts has been open about her experiences with early menopause for years. She was one of the first celebrities to discuss it, and has said she’d like to lift the stigma and silence surrounding menopause. Naomi has a new book coming out on January 21, 2025 titled Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause. It deals with menopause and aging in general. Naomi will tell stories from her life and feature conversations with friends and experts. The book is meant to feel like an intimate chat with a close friend.
“Women have had to suffer in silence and shame for too long about the changes they undergo during menopause, with little access to information, support or even much of an open conversation,” Watts tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I hope that this book can play a part in making women feel a little less alone, a little more supported, and dare I say, a little more excited about the natural changes that life has in store for us.”
Dare I Say It is the resource Watts — already a leading voice in menopause awareness — craved when at age 36, she found herself completely caught off guard by menopause symptoms, which typically begin between ages 45 and 55, per the National Institutes of Health.
“Feeling confused, alone and unsupported about this stage of her life, Watts was determined to do better for herself and for other women and began boldly using her platform to normalize conversations about this natural process,” reads a press release about the forthcoming book.
“I want this book to read like you’re sitting down over coffee and having an intimate chat with your girlfriend,” Watts said, in a statement. “I hope it will be of help for anyone trying to get a hold on this phase of life and make it a time of liberation rather than purely a time of trial. Menopause is a part of a woman’s midlife, but midlife is about far more than menopause.”
Watts also tells PEOPLE that she is “so grateful to everyone who spoke to me for sharing their stories.”
In a message to her future readers, she adds, “I can’t wait for you to hear about the highs and lows and everything in between about this life stage and get some real, practical advice and comfort about how to take on these changes head-on.”
Dare I Say It is a natural next step for Watts, who founded her menopausal wellness brand, Stripes Beauty, in 2022. Speaking with PEOPLE about the brand earlier this year, the star said, “I know I had shame and fear and doubt. Chances are that a lot of other people are going through the same thing.”
“I had a lot of anxiety in the lead up to creating this business, and then I just felt like, well, every woman is going to get to this point. Why are we not getting better care?” she added at the time. “There’s just a lack of education and research.”
I just turned 40 and I already have anxiety about entering perimenopause. I’m halfway through Dr. Jen Gunter’s The Menopause Manifesto and last month, I started adjusting my workouts accordingly. I also am really focused on my nutrition, too. I do think that, as with every topic involving women’s reproductive health, a lack of education about what to expect beyond getting hot flashes and not being able to sleep. I’ve learned a lot about what to expect from my body, but there really are so many women out there that are either too embarrassed or made to feel shame when it comes to learning about their bodies. I think it’s great when celebrities are open about such topics because they can reach more people in general. Even more so, I love that these types of stories open it up for us to share our stories!
photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
This is pretty important. I like that she’s doing this. There is so much that happens to our bodies during perimenopause and menopause. From sleep patterns to itchy inner ear. Yes! That’s a thing!
Yes!! The itchy inner ear has been driving me crazy!
OMG same!!
The brain fog is real,folks. Also: hormone replacement is better understood now – don’t be afraid to ask your doc.
Before I had access to HRT my brain fog was so bad that I was forgetting things just after thinking about them..
It was devastating and even dangerous as a few times I even had forgot to switch off the gas cooker after cooking.
4 months on after I’ve been prescribed HRT and I feel so much better. I’ve also lost 15 pounds.
I had started weight training in perimenopause and I now see the difference!
The more you know, the more you can be forearmed. I got an IUD for my fibroids and was advised that it should help the menopausal symptoms and I am trying to just move more and have a cooler room (temperature wise)
I love that Naomi has tackled this topic…and has now put her experiences and others’, including research too, into a book.
Am i the only female that went through both phases without thinking it was a big deal?
For me, it stopped kinda like it started. That said, my two covid shots impacted me for six months each
I think experiences vary so much that even statistics can be misleading. My mum was like you, had absolutely no symptoms except her periods stopping.
I never had hot flushes but brain fog and insomnia almost ruined my life before I got prescribed HRT.
I was the same way. One month I had my period and the next month it stopped and never returned. No hot flashes or other things associated with menopause. I felt like I was really fortunate that it was so easy.
For some women it’s not a big deal, for many of us it wreaks havoc on our minds and bodies. The age range most American women commit suicide is 45-55, just saying.
My one hope is women in their 30’s start reading and learning about perimenopause
A friend and I were saying recently, your teens are a hormonal nightmare, your 20’s & 30’s (and some 40’s) are baby hormones mixed in with career and child rearing exhaustion and then just as you think you’re out of the woods. Boom, perimenopause hits
My mum battled horrifically with what we now know was perimenopause in her early/mid 40’s and now at 59, we *think* (and hope) the worst of menopause is over. I saw my vivacious, bubbly mum cycle through debilitating anxiety and depression, fibroids, lupus and Hodgkins Lymphoma
I look forward to reading this
None of us suffered in silence. My friends and I talked about it all the time. 🤷♀️
It never occurred to me until I stopped menstruating at 44 that I’d spent the few years prior going through menopause. I just thought I was losing my mind. I remember talking to my doctor about my symptoms and she was absolutely no help, because it clearly didn’t occur to her, either! So I kind of did suffer in silence, because there simply wasn’t enough information out there at the time about menopause. Nothing about HRT, either — which all of my friends are now on, and I feel a bit jealous because I missed out on such an amazing form of therapy.
It’s changing now — there’s a lot more info available. Which is awesome. And it never hurts to add another voice to the mix.
Good for you, but that’s not the case for a lot of people. There’s a loneliness epidemic going on in this country where many people are very isolated. Not to mention how there are lots of women who just don’t feel comfortable talking about these types of things.
It’s great that middle-aged women are raising awareness for other middle-aged women, but are we at the point yet where we are teaching kids/teens about this stage of life and what to expect as part of normal teaching about the reproductive system? I remember (1980s), my mother and her friends whispering about “The Change” but I had no clue what it meant and they clearly didn’t want me to hear about it. I really knew nothing until my late forties except that supposedly someday my periods would stop and (thank you misogynist sitcoms) that I would probably get something called hot flashes that everyone except the woman in question would find hilariously funny.
I just read a book by a doctor who’s a clear proponent of therapy with “bioidentical” hormones, but doesn’t really discuss the heightened breast cancer risk that may come with them. She also mentioned a spectrum of things I had no idea that I might be in for, and don’t want, for instance, thinning vaginal tissue that might lead to dryness in ten years and pain during sex, but not if you apply hormonal cream within a certain time frame? That I’ve certainly not heard before.
I have a friend with terrible dizziness and sleep issues who now swears by progesterone, while my gynecologist is like, do you want to try these herbs? My only issues so far at 47 are brain fog and yep, loss of the ability to sleep well. But I’m a single mom to tweens with ADHD, worried about climate and societal collapse. Not sure how I should sleep better. But I actually worry least about menopause?
That is unfortunate that risks with bio identical HRT were not mentioned BUT the latest research is proving that Hrt is actually a cancer preventative even if you have had hormonal breast cancers some HRT can actually prevent re-occurance and it’s being proven to actually decrease the mortality age for women so a LOT of new research and with the newest iteration of bioidenticals there are far less risks and more benefits to HRT
I believe I’ve mentioned this on previous stories, but I’m rolling up on this stage of life (early 40s), so I really appreciate hearing more about this from both celebs and from fellow Celebitchies!
It’s great that Naomi is using her platform to help spread information and awareness.