Lab study, 2017
Is PMDD just normal menstrual cycle mood changes amplified?
No. In healthy young women, most mood variation (79%-98%) was from day-to-day changes, not from premenstrual patterns. Each person's mood pattern stayed the same from cycle to cycle, suggesting PMDD is different from normal mood variation.
What they did
Asked 27 healthy women aged 18-35 to report their mood every day (measuring depression, nervousness, irritability, and fatigue) for 2 to 6 consecutive menstrual cycles. Researchers analyzed how much of the mood variation was due to daily changes, cycle phase, or individual differences.
What they found
Most mood variation (79%-98%) came from day-to-day changes and did not follow a standard pattern of high mood before the period and low mood after menstruation starts. Each woman had her own stable mood pattern from cycle to cycle.
What it means for you
PMDD is not simply an exaggerated version of normal mood swings that all women experience. This suggests tracking your own individual mood patterns over time might be more useful than comparing to what doctors expect. However, the study only included psychologically healthy young women with regular cycles, so it may not apply to women who actually have PMDD or to other age groups.
27
women studied
18-35
age range
79%-98%
mood variation from daily change, not premenstrual pattern
About the study
- Original title
- Variance in Mood Symptoms Across Menstrual Cycles: Implications for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
- Authors
- Lorenz TK, Gesselman AN, Vitzthum VJ
- Journal
- Women's reproductive health (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Lab study
- Participants
- 27
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2017.1326248
Topics
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