Premenstrual syndrome, popularly known PMS, has long excused many an angry outburst, chocolate binge or unexpected crying jag. But results of a recent study show that there may be more legitimacy to the syndrome than many believe.
For up to 10 percent of reproductive-age women who suffer from PMS’s short-lived monthly signs of irritability, exhaustion and mood swings, symptoms extend to premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which cause mood swings, poor concentration, headaches, irritability and fatigue. Until recently, its causes had not been fully understood.
But researchers from New York’s Rockefeller Institute recently published findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America suggesting that PMDD may in fact be genetic.
Study author Joanna Spencer and other researchers tested mice to see the effects of the particular gene they were investigating. They found that those carrying the gene had behavioral changes related to their estrous cycle.
Approximately 20 to 30 percent of women have the gene, according to the study.
From their research, the scientists deduced that hormones affected the brain, and consequently behavior.
According to the report, the mice affected by the particular gene had trouble with visual recognition and memory, whereas control mice did not.
The study also said found that “[carrier] female mice showed increased anxiety-type behavior.”
The fact that there is a genetic link to PMDD has led many to call for the American Psychiatric Association to officially it a disorder.
Currently, the APA is deciding whether to include PMDD as an officially recognized disorder in the DSM-V.
Some students said they weren’t sure if PMDD should be recognized officially because of the possible consequent assumptions about women’s behavior.
“People already use PMS as an excuse, and so I feel like that might amplify it,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Haley Smith-Fries. “It’s important for people to be diagnosed for the problems they have, but it should be considered that it could be used as an excuse.”
“If it does become an official disorder, I think it would be over-diagnosed,” said CAS sophomore Tammy Chiang said.
Spencer said in an email that she is excited about her study’s findings, although she admitted that they were not all-conclusive.
“This is one explanation for why some women experience severe moodsymptomsassociated with their menstrual cycles, while others do not,” she said.
Dr. David Barlow, founder and director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, included PMDD in “Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach,” a textbook he co-authored.
“This disorder evokes a different issue that must be considered in the creation of any diagnostic category: bias and stigmatization,” Barlow wrote in the book.
Along those lines, some advocates of women’s health also argue that if PMDD were an official disorder, many would label women incorrectly as mentally ill.
“Arguments continue against including this disorder in the diagnostic system,” Barlow said. “Most of them cite the issue of stigmatization, warning that recognition might confirm the cultural belief that menstruation and resulting disability make women unfit for positions of responsibility.”
But Barlow also said in his book that the main benefit to making it a recognized disorder is that women affected by PMDD will receive care much more easily.
“In view of the suffering and impairment associated with the condition, the proponents argued, women deserved the attention, care, and financial support that inclusion in a diagnostic category would provide,” Barlow wrote.
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