---
title: What are the main symptoms of severe premenstrual tension and how do they differ from depression or anxiety?
description: In 42 women with severe PMS, the main symptoms were irritability, mood swings, tension, and restlessness that appear and disappear with the cycle. These don't
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/severe-premenstrual-tension-delineation-of-the-syndrome-1980/
---

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- What are the main symptoms of severe premenstrual tension and how do they differ from depression or anxiety?

Interview study, 1980

# What are the main symptoms of severe premenstrual tension and how do they differ from depression or anxiety?

In 42 women with severe PMS, the main symptoms were irritability, mood swings, tension, and restlessness that appear and disappear with the cycle. These don't match patterns of depression or anxiety alone.

 Early or limited evidence

42 women with severe premenstrual tension syndrome

## What they did

42 women with severe premenstrual tension were evaluated using rating scales during the premenstrual phase and during another phase of the cycle to identify specific symptoms.

## What they found

Premenstrual scores were twice as high as in comparison studies. The most prominent emotional symptoms were irritability, mood swings, tension, and restlessness. There was a marked on-off pattern between the premenstrual phase and other cycle phases (p less than 0.001). Most women had no other psychiatric diagnoses.

## What it means for you

Severe PMS appears to be its own distinct condition, not just depression or anxiety in the premenstrual phase. The main limitations are the small sample size and lack of a control group.

42

women with severe PMS studied

2x

premenstrual scores vs comparison studies

<0.001

p-value for on-off symptom pattern

## About the study

Original title Severe premenstrual tension: delineation of the syndrome Authors Haskett RF, Steiner M, Osmun JN et al. Journal Biological psychiatry Year 1980 Study design Interview study What was tested None Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7188863/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7188863/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)

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