Dating after 40 sounds so depressing and has me rethinking everything

For kicks, I decided to browse through posts related to dating after 40 for women. Wow. Not looking good. I'm shocked by how many women were casually talking about dating for YEARS using dating apps, like it was the norm to take six years to find someone. Other posts indicated that at 40, men our age filter us out for women in their 30s, leaving only men 50+ to date. I've nothing against men in their 50s, but the idea that those men are likely also filtering 10 years down to leave out women their own age is such a turn off and red flag.

I would love to hear thoughts on dating in 40s from the honest women of Reddit. I've been warned plenty that there are the "misery loves company" kind of women who will talk up dating at 40 but secretly think it's rough finding anyone, so I'm really hoping everyone is just keeping it real in the responses. Give it to me straight, ladies, is it really that bad? I can handle the truth lol.