---
title: Can menstruation trigger severe mental illness like psychosis?
description: Yes. Medical case reports show that menstruation can trigger psychotic episodes in some women, particularly around the time of the period or repeatedly in cyc
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-psychosis-2005/
---

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- Can menstruation trigger severe mental illness like psychosis?

Survey study, 2005

# Can menstruation trigger severe mental illness like psychosis?

Yes. Medical case reports show that menstruation can trigger psychotic episodes in some women, particularly around the time of the period or repeatedly in cycles tied to the menstrual cycle.

 Early or limited evidence

Case reports from medical literature; at least 20 women with both menstrual and postpartum psychosis

## What they did

Literature review. Researchers examined published case reports in medical literature about psychosis linked to menstruation and organized them into a new classification system.

## What they found

Cases documented psychotic episodes that began before the period, during the period, between periods, or in the middle of the cycle. Some women experienced continuous illness that worsened and improved in a pattern linked to their menstrual cycle. At least 20 women in the medical literature experienced both menstrual psychosis and postpartum psychosis at different times in their lives. Episodes were most common around the time of first menstruation and after childbirth.

## What it means for you

Menstruation can trigger or worsen psychotic symptoms in some women. These episodes may be part of bipolar disorder. However, most evidence comes from individual case reports rather than large systematic studies, so we don't know how common this is. The timing of episodes suggests a connection to female hormones, but the exact mechanism is unknown.

20

Women with both psychoses

4

Onset types documented

## About the study

Original title Menstrual psychosis Authors Brockington I Journal World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Year 2005 Study design Survey study Participants 20 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16633495/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16633495/)

## Topics

[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Menstrual psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-menstrual-psychosis/)[Bipolar disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-bipolar/)[Schizophrenia and psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-psychosis/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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## Related studies

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Case report, 2022

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Case report, 2017

Can mood symptoms like mania and psychosis change across the menstrual cycle in bipolar disorder?

Case report, 1993

Can extreme sleepiness around periods be linked to prolactin and a medication called metoclopramide?

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