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Premenstrual Disorders
arrhea or constipation, insomnia, and
weight gain. Behavioral symptoms,
which can cause mild to severe person-
ality changes, include tension, irritabil-
ity, depression, anxiety, mood swings,
outbreaks of temper, forgetfulness, ag-
gression, indecisiveness, and difficulty
concentrating.
Symptoms may begin at any time
during a woman’s childbearing years,
from puberty through
menopause
. They
usually disappear while pregnant and after menopause. Symptoms
may differ frommonth to month, or they may remain the same. One
woman may have only one symptom, or she may suffer from a va-
riety of physical and emotional symptoms. The severity also varies,
some months being milder, followed by more distressful
menses
.
Like Emily, Martie could not understand why she was having trouble
in school at certain times and not others. For most of the month,
Martie got As and Bs, played on the softball team, and worked part
time at a local floral shop. She loved it all. But she had been noticing
that sometimes she just didn’t want to go to practice, and she found
herself making excuses for not being able to work.
Once she told her boss she was so tired she had to go home to
bed. And she did go home and took a nap. But later that day she
started her period. She felt so much better she went out with her
friends to a movie; to her embarrassment, she ran into her boss out-
side the theater. She hadn’t lied about being so tired and she did
feel better later in the day—but she knew her boss thought she had
wanted to skip work so she could have a good time with her friends.
Martie felt guilty. She didn’t know what was wrong with her.
Symptoms like these are difficult to understand. If women do
not comprehend the link between their feelings and their menstrual
cycle, these symptoms may cause problems in their personal and
work relationships.
menopause
: The time
of the natural cessa-
tion of menstruation,
usually after age 45.
menses
: The menstrual
flow.