Kate Rae

Welcome to our third-annual celebration of the Canadians who make us feel better about the world.

Your hormones are in flux. You’re exhausted. Throw in your surly teens, work demands and taking care of your parents, blend and you’re a raging, sobbing smoothie.

We’re stumbling around in a brain fog, desperate for sleep, furious with our partners, wondering just how much blood it’s possible to lose before dying. Must we white-knuckle it for the next few years?

Does the thought of re-entering the world turn you into a cartoon cat being forced into a carrier? Let a verified recovered agoraphobe lead the way. (But, like, very carefully and very slowly. . .)

The start of perimenopause can bring on a slate of baffling symptoms. Here’s what two experts did when they went through the “change."