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A Comprehensive Guide to Period Anxiety!

For some, the anticipation of painful menstruation or premenstrual syndrome can turn into a major anxiety that impacts every aspect of their life from how they can spend their day to sleeping through the night.

Since the beginning of my own periods more than 15 years ago, the anxiety of a variety of bodily pain has been a defining feature of this time in my body. This prolonged experience with period anxiety has also made me quite knowledgeable on what I can do to ease it. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down a few common period triggers and I’ll share what helped when managing the emotional effect.

For people with gynae-folk cycles with monthly moods on their flow period, the emotional and mental experience of PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) varies a lot from person to person. It can stem from the physical symptoms of menstruation such as feeling drained, lightheaded, moody, uncomfortable, anxiety, stress, etc.

Or it could simply be coming to grips with real-life events and hormonal changes especially related to this particular period. PMS has many potential triggers and people have all experienced it.

Defining Period Anxiety

The considerable levels of distress experienced by these women may put their condition on a par with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) categories, especially for women who do not have typical PMDD symptoms. The onset of these anxiety symptoms is frequently not identified as premenstrual, adding to the anxiety with women concerned about their mental health, often not having experienced anything similar at the premenstrual phase in the menstrual cycle, and therefore fearing they may be starting lifelong serious mental illness, with the stigma attached to this condition, and with reduced quality of life.

It has been found that GPs are not afraid to make a diagnosis of PMS but worry about consequences for the woman in terms of subsequent possible labelling and difficulties in getting her medical insurance.

The cluster of symptoms that differ from other known premenstrual symptoms, and which are predominantly of an anxiety nature, occur premenstrually or are significantly exacerbated premenstrually, and dissipate rapidly after the onset of menstruation, constitute the clinical entity of premenstrual anxiety.

These symptoms, generally of a severe and disabling nature, can lead to apparent psychosis, hospitalization, or ideas of suicide and therefore are sufficiently serious to arouse concern.

Considering the regularity of menstrual cycles for most women, it is surprising that menstruation and premenstrual signs and symptoms can be a cause of great anxiety for women.

While many women experience premenstrual signs and symptoms, a subgroup of women become familiar with increasing levels of anxiety as their date of menstruation nears. While these distressing anxiety-related symptoms are associated with the premenstrual part of the cycle, they are the prime reason for help-seeking behaviour, drawing attention to their unique and separate clinical presentation, which has led to the present chapter.

Review of studies recently surveyed 7,000 women with the result that around 30% experience discomfort in premenstrual days. A variety of physical and emotional symptoms have been grouped under this label. The symptoms show considerable variability from woman to woman, and even in the same individuals with different menstrual cycles.

This variability means that the statistical, as opposed to the clinical, significance of such grouping is small. Premenstrual syndrome may sometimes be associated with a disruption of family life, loss of esteem at work, or general disorganization in their personal lives.

Women have also been known to purchase foodstuffs and clothing that they would never normally desire, resulting in an increase in their household expenses.

The manifestation of such symptoms can have a substantial effect on a woman’s quality of life. At a most basic level, women may have trouble coping with daily activities or experience an increase in sensitivity to physical pain, possibly due to a disregulation of endogenous opioid peptides (e.g. endorphins).

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