---
title: Does anxiety increase during menstruation? | Niyora
description: According to this study, yes. State anxiety (how anxious someone feels right now) was raised during menstruation, and the amount of increase depended on each
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/anxiety-and-menstrual-bleeding-in-nigerian-females-1978/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Does anxiety increase during menstruation?

Non-randomised trial, 1978

# Does anxiety increase during menstruation?

According to this study, yes. State anxiety (how anxious someone feels right now) was raised during menstruation, and the amount of increase depended on each woman's baseline anxiety tendency. However, the study is small, from 1978, and notes that women may have exaggerated their symptoms.

 Early or limited evidence

Female students in Nigeria

## What they did

This study measured anxiety using a standardized test called the STAI in female participants during menstruation and outside menstruation. The test measures both how anxious someone feels right now and their overall tendency to be anxious.

## What they found

State anxiety was raised during menstruation. The amount of increase in state anxiety during menstruation depended on each woman's level of trait anxiety (baseline tendency to be anxious). The menstruating group scored higher than the control group on both positive and negative symptom items.

## What it means for you

Anxiety may increase around menstruation and relate to how anxious someone naturally tends to be. However, the study notes women may have exaggerated their reported symptoms. The study is old and lacks clear details on sample size and group characteristics. Repeating this with modern methods would be valuable.

## About the study

Original title Anxiety and menstrual bleeding in Nigerian females Authors Awaritefe A Journal Mental health and society Year 1978 Study design Non-randomised trial What was tested None - observational study Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/576053/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/576053/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

Randomised trial, 2026

Does aerobic or resistance exercise reduce anxiety in women with PMS?

Cohort study, 2025

How common is PMS in Chinese teenage girls, and what factors are linked to it?

Randomised trial, 2024

Does curcumin reduce depression, anxiety, and stress in women with PMS and dysmenorrhea?

Systematic review, 2022

Do mental health disorders get worse during the menstrual cycle?

Systematic review, 2021

Does damask rose help reduce menstrual pain, headache, fatigue, anxiety, and bloating?

Randomised trial, 1999

Does calcium reduce PMS symptoms?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗