A menopause survey reports changes in confidence, activity and intimacy. Read the findings, their limits and the practical questions they raise for care.
On October 19, 2026, the Irish Mirror reported a Holland & Barrett survey about changes in women’s activities during perimenopause and menopause. Nearly half of respondents said they had stopped, reduced or put on hold activities they previously enjoyed.
This report does not revise a medical standard of care. The shift it proposes is from focusing only on what menopause may take away to asking what women want to keep doing.
According to the Irish Mirror, the findings accompanied Holland & Barrett’s “The Things We Won’t Stop” campaign. Its stated focus was on the activities and experiences women want to retain. That makes the useful question broader than whether a symptom is present: what part of everyday life does a woman want support to continue?
The survey findings reported by the Irish Mirror covered confidence alongside movement and personal relationships:
The last finding changes the emphasis of the story. Respondents were not only describing what had become harder. They were also identifying what they valued and wanted to retain.
Confidence deserves attention on its own terms here. Wanting to feel at home in oneself is not a less legitimate concern than wanting to remain physically active. Nor should dating or intimacy be treated as a minor detail simply because it sits outside a conventional symptom list.
The Irish Mirror reported that only 10% of respondents felt sufficiently informed and supported through perimenopause or menopause.
Among respondents who felt they would have benefited from more support:
These answers describe different kinds of support. Clear information and a discussion with a healthcare professional are related needs, but they are not interchangeable. A useful response would begin by asking which gap a particular woman is experiencing rather than assuming that everyone needs the same resource.
Other research provides context for the exercise finding without turning participation into a test of willpower.
A separate study reported by The Menopause Society included more than 1,800 Flo app users from 87 countries. It examined self-reported physical-activity frequency alongside menopause symptom burden and reported an association between the two.
Trial-based evidence adds another perspective. A UCL-led systematic review and meta-analysis assessed 12 randomised controlled trials involving more than 1,000 women. It examined physical activity in relation to psychological wellbeing or quality of life during perimenopause and early post-menopause.
The review grouped activities into aerobic-based exercise and mind-body activities. According to UCL’s summary, aerobic activities showed the strongest effects for depressive symptoms and overall quality of life.
This gives movement a place in the discussion about wellbeing. It also makes the survey’s finding about reduced participation worth attention: activity is something respondents wanted to retain, while separate research has examined its possible psychological benefits. Refemina’s coverage of exercise and quality of life during menopause looks more closely at that evidence.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also reported recommendations for non-pharmacologic approaches to vasomotor symptoms, sleep and mood. These included cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness-based interventions and exercise. Clinical hypnosis and acupuncture were also included.
Together, these sources place physical activity within a broader care conversation rather than presenting it as the only response available.
The main survey has substantial reporting gaps. The available Irish Mirror coverage does not disclose its sample size or recruitment method. It also omits field dates and geography. Without a full methodology or questionnaire, the percentages should not be treated as estimates for all women experiencing menopause.
The report also does not establish that menopause symptoms caused each change in activity. It does not separate symptom effects from other health circumstances or personal and social factors. Its combined categories cannot show how many respondents stopped an activity completely or how many reported each experience within the dating and intimacy grouping.
The commercial context matters too: the findings accompanied a company campaign. They are useful as reported experiences and questions about unmet needs, not as an independent evaluation of a care service.
The separate activity studies have their own boundaries. The Flo research involved app users completing an online survey and cannot establish that activity caused a change in symptoms. The UCL review provides trial-based evidence about psychological outcomes, but its available summary does not establish the best activity type or amount for each woman. Neither study answers the broader question of how women retain all the activities they value.
The practical starting point is a specific change and a specific priority. The survey’s respondents identified symptom understanding and healthcare support among what they felt would have helped. That supports bringing everyday participation into a conversation with a qualified healthcare professional.
A discussion can begin with an activity that has become less frequent or has been put aside. The relevant issue might be movement or time with friends. It might instead be confidence or intimacy.
Describing the change gives the conversation a concrete subject. It moves beyond a broad statement that midlife feels different and identifies the part of life that deserves attention. This is also a useful starting point for talking about menopause with a clinician.
The survey’s questions about what women wanted to retain are as useful as its questions about what they had paused. They leave room for personal priorities rather than treating every previous habit as something that must be restored.
For one woman, physical activity may be the central concern. For another, the more meaningful issue may be connection or feeling confident in herself. A care discussion can make space for that distinction without ranking those concerns by how medical they sound.
There is also room for a wider conversation about relationships and changing intimacy. The aim is to understand what matters to the woman herself rather than assume what she ought to want.
The survey offers several starting points: understanding symptoms and getting healthcare advice were both reported needs. Access to specialist support or a knowledgeable face-to-face conversation also mattered to respondents.
These are topics for discussion rather than a prescribed pathway. Personal decisions about symptoms and care belong with a qualified healthcare professional. The editorial lesson is to keep the desired outcome visible: participation in something the woman values, not simply a more complete list of symptoms.
The practical direction for care is to ask what a woman wants to keep doing and make that goal part of the conversation about symptoms and support.
After identifying activities she misses, a woman may want to understand how those changes fit her sense of self; Refemina translates evidence on hormonal transition into clear adult guidance. For readers unsettled by lost confidence, its wider view of midlife places personal experience alongside credible research without treating every concern as a hormone problem.
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