Walking for Depression During Perimenopause: A Practical Guide
Walking is one of the most effective tools for managing perimenopausal depression. Discover how daily walks can improve mood, energy, and emotional resilience.
Understanding Depression During Perimenopause
Depression during perimenopause is not simply feeling sad about getting older. It is a physiologically driven shift linked directly to declining and erratic oestrogen levels. Oestrogen plays a significant role in regulating serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, the neurotransmitters that keep mood stable and motivation intact. When oestrogen fluctuates sharply, as it does throughout perimenopause, these systems can become dysregulated. The result is often a persistent low mood, emotional flatness, tearfulness, a loss of interest in things that previously brought pleasure, or a sense of disconnection from daily life. Disrupted sleep from hot flashes and night sweats adds another layer, because sleep deprivation independently worsens depressive symptoms. Many women find their depression sits alongside anxiety, irritability, or brain fog, creating a constellation of symptoms that can feel very hard to untangle.
How Walking Helps Lift Perimenopausal Mood
Walking is one of the most researched and consistently supported forms of exercise for depression. It raises levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports neuroplasticity and the health of mood-regulating brain circuits. It also triggers the release of endorphins and serotonin during and after the session. Walking outdoors in natural light has an additional benefit: morning light exposure resets the circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality and in turn reducing the overnight cortisol surges that contribute to perimenopausal depression. The low-impact, accessible nature of walking means it is practical even on days when energy and motivation are very low. A short, slow 15-minute walk still activates most of these mechanisms. Walking also offers a sense of autonomy and accomplishment that depression tends to erode, making it particularly well matched to the low self-efficacy that often accompanies perimenopausal mood changes.
Practical Techniques to Maximise the Mood Benefit
Not all walking is equally effective for depression. Research comparing different formats suggests the following approaches produce the strongest mood outcomes. First, walk outdoors when possible. Natural environments lower cortisol and produce a calming effect that indoor walking on a treadmill does not fully replicate. Second, aim for a brisk pace, one where your breathing deepens but you can still hold a conversation. This aerobic threshold is where the endorphin and BDNF responses are most reliably triggered. Third, morning walks outperform evening walks for mood, largely because of the light exposure benefit. Fourth, walking with another person adds a social component that independently reduces depression. If you prefer to walk alone, a podcast or audiobook can make the time feel purposeful. Finally, consistency matters more than duration. A 20-minute walk five days a week tends to produce better outcomes than a single long weekend walk.
What the Evidence Shows
The evidence base for walking as an antidepressant is extensive. A large meta-analysis published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022 found that even small increases in physical activity were associated with significant reductions in depression risk, with brisk walking among the most commonly studied and effective interventions. A separate Cochrane review of exercise for depression found that exercise, including walking, produced moderate to large antidepressant effects across dozens of randomised controlled trials. For perimenopausal women specifically, studies show that regular aerobic exercise reduces the frequency and severity of low mood episodes and may reduce the need for pharmacological intervention in mild to moderate cases. The British Menopause Society, the North American Menopause Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence all recommend regular physical activity as a core component of managing mood symptoms in perimenopause.
Starting a Walking Habit When Depression Makes Everything Harder
One of depression's cruelest features is that it undermines motivation for the very activities that would help. Starting small is not a consolation, it is sound strategy. Begin with a commitment to walk for just 10 minutes, regardless of pace or destination. Do not set a distance target. Once the habit exists, extending the duration becomes much easier. Tying the walk to an existing routine helps enormously: a walk immediately after your morning coffee, after dropping children at school, or during a lunch break requires no separate decision, reducing the mental load. If getting outside feels impossible on very low days, start by walking to the end of the street and back. If you are working with a GP or mental health professional on your depression, mention that you are adding walking to your routine. They may have specific suggestions or resources to support you.
Logging Activity and Mood to Find Your Pattern
Depression in perimenopause often has a cyclical quality, influenced by hormone fluctuations across the month. Understanding your personal pattern, when you are most vulnerable and what seems to make a difference, requires tracking both symptoms and activity over time. The PeriPlan app lets you log your walks and track symptoms like low mood, energy, and motivation, so you can see how your activity habits connect to how you feel across days and weeks. Over time, this data can reveal whether consistent walking correlates with more stable mood, or whether certain phases of your cycle tend to require extra support. Sharing this kind of logged pattern with your GP provides concrete information that can inform treatment decisions, whether those involve exercise, therapy, hormone therapy, or a combination.
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