PMS often gets false stereotype

Although PMS has been stereotyped by society as an excuse for women to vent their frustrations, physicians say many women suffer from it to differing degrees.

PMS -- to many women these letters spell irritability, anxiety, depression, breast tenderness, mood swings, fatigue, lower back pain and food cravings.

Between 30 and 50 percent of all women of child-bearing age in the United States suffer from Premenstrual Syndrome. The symptoms connected with PMS reoccur during successive menstrual cycles and may include a symptom-free phase, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Symptoms begin mid-cycle during ovulation, progress through the onset of a woman's period and ease once the period has started.

"From PMS to pregnancy, there are many quirks to being a woman," said Kadine Anckle (freshman-journalism).

For 2 to 5 percent of women, PMS is a severe problem. Others may experience it to a moderate or mild degree. No one really knows what causes PMS, although it is undoubtedly related to cyclic changes in hormone levels.

But, despite the fact that many women claim to suffer from PMS, Phyllis Mansfield, professor of women's studies and health education, said there is no conclusive evidence that there is an actual syndrome known as PMS.

"A syndrome implies a cluster of symptoms which occur at the same time. With PMS, symptoms can vary," she said. "It doesn't do women a service to classify PMS as a syndrome -- it is not something that there is a cause and cure for."

Each individual woman experiences PMS differently, she said. Some women describe feelings of depression, sadness, anger, rage and anxiety, while others experience bloating and breast tenderness.

PMS is not psychosomatic, Mansfield said. When some women experience heightened emotions and appear sad or irritable, their actual emotions reflect their own personality and the emotions that are going on in their lives.

Heightened emotionality is not something women can hide and is fairly prominent during that part of the cycle, she said.

"There is a danger that some men and women have when they see a woman who is being emotional, they may tend to say 'Oh well, it's PMS,' " Mansfield said.

Society, including some University students, have preconceived notions about women and PMS.

"Men and women go through hormonal imbalances," said Stan Moskal (freshman-finance). "But PMS is just an excuse for women to vent their frustrations."

Because of this stereotyping, women tend to shy away from expressing their true feelings -- bottling them up inside and not voicing them, Mansfield said. Society needs to allow for open expression -- respecting women and listening to what they have to say, and it has to allow women to feel safe and secure in expressing their feelings so that they can reflect on themselves and their lives, she said.

Occasionally, women are even stereotyped as crazy when they have PMS. But in reality, they have complete control and the ability to accept full responsibility for their behavior during this time.

"Labeling does not allow women to take full responsibility for feelings," Mansfield said. "They feel like their feelings belong to a disease rather than to them personally."

Both men and women have mood swings, but each gender deals with the other differently during those swings of emotion, Mansfield said.

When men experience emotional swings, women give them space instead of classifying them as crazy or claiming their hormones are fluctuating, she said. Women blame external causes for men's irrational behavior.

With no cure anywhere in sight, treatment for PMS is attainable depending on the individual case, said Joanna Moyer, director of Women's Health.

"Medications used to treat PMS fail to help most women, but individual reactions differ," she said.

For example, oral contraceptives can be used in severe cases to counteract some of the symptoms associated with PMS, Moyer said. But they can also aggravate symptoms as often as they relieve them.

Natural remedies are a more realistic approach, Moyer said. By avoiding salt in the last few days before a woman's period, one can reduce bloating and fluid retention. By avoiding caffeine, women may feel less irritable and tense and breasts may feel less sore. Regular exercise also helps by providing an emotional lift and relieving stress, she said.