Premenstrual syndrome. These words invoke thoughts of sadness, irritability, and just an overall state of negativity that many women experience a few days before their menstrual cycle. Premenstrual syndrome has become a reality that is believed to affect most women and girls of reproductive age. There have been conflicting findings of it validity since the term was first coined by UK medical doctors Raymond Greene and Katharina Dalton. In their article “The Premenstrual Syndrome” published by the British Medical Journal in 1953, the doctors explained how progesterone affected women during different phases of their menstrual cycles. Per the findings of their study PMS consists of many symptoms that include water retention, breast tenderness, migraines, depression, emotional outbursts, and anxiety.
Prior to the Greene and Dalton study, American Gynecologist Dr. Robert T. Frank conducted the first modern study on PMS in 1931. In his paper “The Hormonal Causes of Premenstrual Tension” Dr. Frank argued that the symptoms of “premenstrual tension” were caused by a hormonal imbalance. Both studies brought attention to the plight of women who shared similar symptoms prior to menstruation. No longer could women simply be told that it was “all in their heads”. The symptoms now had a name and the information was passed down to generations of women who were told they would experience the same conditions on different levels.
As the years progressed the term “PMS” has been used in derogatory terms towards woman, as well as a possible scapegoat for mood swings and generally unpleasant behavior by the those who claim to be caught in its grips. Overeating of sweets and weight gain can be blamed on routine monthly bloating caused by PMS, rather than indulging your sweet tooth. A bad attitude and irritability can now be expected monthly rather than the culprit being the frustrations of life, juggling at times what can feel like overwhelming responsibilities as a woman. In short it can be a release that we allow ourselves to relieve tension and stress.
PMS has even been used as a defense in criminal cases. In 1994 in Liverpool, England, Jan Painter assaulted her husband with a kitchen knife after claiming he took money from her purse. During her trial the jury was made aware of how Painter was suffering from severe PMS when she stabbed her husband. The jury took two hours to deliver a not guilty verdict. In 1988, Anna Reynolds killed her mother with a hammer. At her trial, it was argued that PMS caused her loss of control and impairment which in turn reduced her culpability. While initially the jury returned a verdict of guilty, the prosecution expressed they were open to accepting a plea of manslaughter if a retrial were to take place. The case was appealed and the jury substituted a verdict of guilty of murder to manslaughter. Reynolds was sentenced to probation on the condition she remain under psychiatric supervision.
There are two sides to the debate of PMS. Recent studies have shown that while it may not be in our minds, we may have been culturally conditioned to exhibit these symptoms as an expected part of our monthly rituals. First comes the bloating and bad attitude or behavior, then comes the period. In a study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers studied 88 women from Hannover, Germany, and Zurich Switzerland during their menstrual cycles. They followed up with 68 of them for their second cycle. Administering a series of well-established psychological tests to their test subjects at various times during the women’s cycle they concluded “There is no consistent association between women’s hormone levels, in particular estrogen and progesterone, and attention, working memory and cognitive bias.”
In another recent study conducted at the University of Toronto, researchers did a meta-analysis of 41 studies. They concluded “Taken together, these studies failed to provide clear evidence in support of the existence of a specific premenstrual negative mood syndrome in the general population. This puzzlingly widespread belief needs challenging, as it perpetuates negative concepts linking female reproduction with negative emotionality.”
While some conclude it is dangerous, dismissive, and even sexist to deny the existence of PMS, others argue it is a modern concept that is social construction. Nevertheless making the symptoms mentally and physically real for many women. Whether “real” or “myth” PMS, should not be considered frivolous as the effects of PMS can affect relationships, families, and careers. The debate and research continues.