Re-framing PMS: Opportunities and Insights
Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS) is well-known for its less-than-pleasant symptoms. Here I present an opportunity to re-frame the PMS experience and get the most out of it.
A reminder of scientific, biological explanation behind PMS (no, it’s not just cultural and it’s not overstated):
-PMS begins about 7 days before the first day of menstruation. During this time women experience a transition of hormone composition as the body detects no fertilized egg in the uterus. Estrogen and serotonin (the feel-good hormone) levels drop. The process of getting rid of hormones that had been produced to support the growth of the fetus is a substantial physiological undertaking that affects the mind and body as a whole. That said, more quantitative and qualitative research is needed to better understand the systemic effects of this transition.
Symptoms include but are not limited to:
-Irritability
-Digestive dysfunction
-Muscle tension around thighs, hips, and back
-Anxiety
-Depression
-Crying
-Fatigue
-Amplification of existing neuroses
-Increased appetite
-Clumsiness
-Cramping
-Hot flashes
All of these symptoms reinforce one another in series of powerful feedback loops, which can be overwhelming for women and the people around them.
Here are a few other features of the shifting hormone cycle that offer interesting perspectives on PMS:
-Nesting — cleaning, organizing, decorating
-Enhanced creativity
-Sensitivity to sad/beautiful things
-Decreased tolerance for inequality/unfairness
Disclaimer: Here begins a partial departure from scientific research and an entry into pattern-recognition and interpretation.
Nesting:
Preparing the environment for a baby is instinctive and driven by hormone levels. Before women get their period, the hormone composition makes women want to improve their surroundings. In my own experience, it’s like clockwork. I normally don’t love cleaning but once a month I start really noticing mess around me and get REALLY into cleaning — and it feels really good. Once a month I spontaneously start cleaning my desk at work and get my room into tip-top shape. Times that I clean excessively (hours or days in a row) are only correlated with my PMS (unless I have no choice, e.g. I’m moving to a new home). And, I enjoy it! It feels satisfying and gets the endorphins flowing, which is especially welcome during this time of the month. Notably, this never happens at other times of the month!
Takeaway: PMS can offer the ideal time for women to get organized and make their environment more comfortable. We can embrace this opportunity as a time we are more likely to enjoy the necessary tasks of everyday life.
Enhanced Creativity:
I’ll admit immediately that I have no idea what the science behind this is, but I am betting that increased sensitivity is connected with the surge of creativity that can happen during PMS. I didn’t notice this symptom until I read about it once. I thought about how periodically I have frenzies of writing. I looked back through my poetry journal and compared it with my period calendar. Low and behold, the correlation was VERY strong for writing and PMS. During these frenzies I feel a great upwelling of thoughts and they pour out onto the page. It is supported by music, which I also happen to start listening to more during PMS. Thanks to these frenzies, I have loads of creative content. I would love to hear reports from other women with different creative outlets to find how their experiences might be similar and different. This is important because the creative expression releases endorphins, which again, are much-needed during PMS. And, at the end of the month, there is concrete evidence of something good having come from all the suffering.
Takeaway: PMS can offer heightened artistic ability and opportunities for creative expression. We can make the most of this by deliberately making time and space for creative expression during PMS.
Sensitivity:
One of the first signs that PMS is setting in for me is that I start to tear up at the littlest allusions to anything sad, inspiring, or beautiful. Normally my mood is quite stable and though I can connect with the fact of something being sad or beautiful, the connection is more intellectual than visceral. During PMS, I feel the gravity of something with my whole body and I am ready to cry at any given moment, whether because of song lyrics, a kind gesture, or any engagement concerning the heart. Do NOT be mistaken that women are senselessly dramatic toward everything during PMS. The emotional responses experienced are entirely valid and meaningful. Proof? Things that aren’t emotionally significant to me WILL NOT make me cry. The PMS brings us much much more in touch with the depth of our feelings. For example, during the women’s march, I saw an adolescent boy holding a sign that said “Her body, her choice.” During non-PMS time, I would be like “Yeah!” and high-five the boy. But instead, I lost it. I couldn’t speak or I would start sobbing. And now, just writing about it, I’m tearing up. Not because it’s sweet or cute, but because it speaks to pain and suffering that run so so deep through ourselves and individuals and our world as a whole. We cannot ever fully embody the sadness we feel because of the suffering people go through — we would all be sobbing until we die. The brain maintains boundaries that prevent us from being overwhelmed by the emotional intensity of life. During PMS, those boundaries begin to break down, and women have an opportunity to abide more fully in the depth and richness of the sadness — and hope, and everything else — that we harbor inside. PMS will show you more clearly your own values as well ad dreams and hopes for the world. This is an exciting opportunity for being in touch with oneself and reinforcing one’s values.
Takeaway: During PMS a woman can get more in touch with her values, emotions, and hopes for the world.
Decreased tolerance for unfairness/inequality:
This is one of the major ones that I think generates sexism. Basically, women become more confrontational during PMS. If we perceive something as being unfair, whether it involves us or not, we feel fired up and inspired to speak out. This can lead to an enhanced tendency to outspokenness in work or community environments — which is excellent for revealing a need for change. This outspokenness, though it may only surface once a month, represents real observations and opinions. It’s not “just the PMS talking.” PMS can and does reveal inner truths. Expression should not be written off for being related to changes in hormones. If we were to take that route, to be consistent we would have to ignore EVERYTHING that is said because EVERYTHING we say is tied to our hormonal constitution. So this idea needs to be dropped.
Often, outspokenness against inequality manifests negatively in relationships, however, is very important as an opportunity for a woman to express how she feels she isn’t being treated the way she deserves. That said, women DO need to be careful here because it’s easy to go overboard and generate an unproductive and harmful argument. The tether on anger is lengthened or severed during PMS — it’s important not to direct this powerful emotion toward people. Rather, we need to learn to channel it into constructive action, and maybe resolve to have the conversation later (however this usually feels impossible given the intensity of the feelings).
Takeaway: What women feel during PMS is valid, but often the hormone changes trigger sudden awareness of feelings we’ve accumulated over time, so our outward expressions feel totally reasonable to us but may not seem rational to others. While the emotional buildup of our past breaks through our usual borders, the people around us are likely far less emotionally engaged with the issue(s) at the moment. We are more likely to act on those feelings than at other times, and possibly with intensity.
So, let us be aware of the opportunities presented by PMS and make the most of a time that, though is undeniably difficult, is very rich.
