The perimenopause.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2023 source ↗
daily
What keeps you awake at night?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
One of 24 questions in The Q&A here.
On the record
Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.
Read by field
Everyone
Arts and letters 37
Politics and public life 1
Business and finance 1
Sport 1
Read by age
Any age
In their thirties 5
In their forties 9
In their fifties 6
In their sixties 7
Seventy and beyond 12
All the big ones – climate change, safety for our children, money.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 September 2023 source ↗
My impotence in the face of war.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 December 2023 source ↗
Thinking I’ve upset somebody.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗
Intrusive thoughts and caffeine.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 March 2025 source ↗
I would say something earnest like stopping the far right, but the truth is nothing keeps me awake at night.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 December 2025 source ↗
It’s usually a slight feeling that, having got through the day, I didn’t get any time to do any writing or something creative – it was a lot of admin, exhaustion from that and rumination.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 May 2026 source ↗
People singing in the street.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗
Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
0 answers from members
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