Ever follow a link of a link of a link in an interesting story? I did today. I started at Nursing Clio and ended up at an article that cites a recent study by the University of Toronto that found PMS may not be related to any lady mood swings.
As a teenager, I was convinced that I became actually depressed a week or two before my period, a condition called PMDD. Looking back, I think maybe I was just in a mild depression during my teens and into my last year of college, and I think the science is a bit shaky on PMDD being an actual thing or not.
I am in the camp that believes that there is a
whole lot more attributed to PMS than there should be. I think that some women use it as an excuse for bad behavior, and men often use it
to write off women's valid concerns/feelings as crazy and illogical.
Food for thought on a Sunday. What do you think?
An interesting thought to add is that where I live in Central America there are A LOT of women who get physically sick the day they start their period. There are a lot of almost taboos things when you have your period, kind of like you're dirty. For example, if you walk through a garden, you'll kill everything at that time of the month. It makes me wonder how much of the sickness here is psychological and how much physical (this is also a country where girls have accepted fainting and hysterical fits).
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting Sarah.
DeleteProbably every culture tells women they are dirty when they menstruate, although of course it really varies - it sounds a little more extreme where you are compared to so many other places.