How to survive PMS?
ALL WE HAVE GROWN THE MASS OF QUESTIONS TO THEMSELVES AND THE WORLDwith which there seems to be no time or need to go to a psychologist. But convincing answers are not born when you talk to yourself, or to your friends, or to your parents. We started a new regular section where professional psychotherapist Olga Miloradova will answer pressing questions. By the way, if you have them, send to [email protected].
How to survive PMS?
Most of us are familiar with the feeling when we want to alternately sob, then kill, and sometimes both. Even the fact that it happens stably once a month does not save - it is almost impossible to predict the approach of our mini-apocalypse, or to control oneself during such periods, but I would really like to. How to pull yourself together and survive PMS with minimal losses for yourself and others?
Olga Miloradova psychotherapist
While a number of feminist psychologists are fighting for the abolition of the well-known PMS abbreviation, arguing that the very idea of accusing women of hormonal insanity makes them stigmatized as mentally ill, some of us have no doubt that this is not a myth at all, but sad reality. All that remains for us in this situation is to envy those who doubt the existence of PMS, because, obviously, they have never experienced anything like it. In reality, the list of complaints harassing women in the premenstrual period is almost endless. For the most serious cases, even a separate diagnosis is highlighted - premenstrual dysphoric disorder - a condition practically corresponding to a major depressive disorder, that is, serious clinical depression with psychomotor retardation and suicidal thoughts, and not the slight drops that we ourselves used to call depression. Since such extremes are, on the one hand, a very rare occurrence, and on the other hand, they cannot do without medication, there will be a discussion of the most typical problems of premenstrual syndrome and some ways to alleviate them.
When you are ready to weep because the voice of your loved one on the phone was not gentle enough, the hair just today has become too dull, well, or you just turn into Godzilla and are ready to destroy anyone on your way who rereads the hormones - estrogen and progesterone, the ratio of which begins to fluctuate. In the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, that is, at the very same time when ovulation has already occurred and the body’s hope of fertilization is not lost, there is a decrease in the production of estrogen, which in turn lowers the level of serotonin. Serotonin is both a neurotransmitter (a substance that provides impulse transmission in the nervous system) and a hormone. In this case, we are most interested in its last function, because it is precisely the low level of serotonin that causes deterioration of mood, sleep disturbances, irritability, as well as the frequent urge to eat something sweet.
It may be worthwhile to apologize to your loved ones in advance and directly ask them once again not to provoke you
In fact, some sweets can really help: a number of products contain tryptophan - the amino acid from which serotonin is formed. Accordingly, foods with tryptophan can slightly increase serotonin levels and alleviate suffering. For example, some of them: dates, bananas, dark chocolate, plums, figs, milk and soy. Nevertheless, if your hunger is endless, and you do not want to lose shape, then, no matter how trite, physical activity will help you. The fact is that during exercise, the level of beta-endorphins increases, which positively affects bad mood in general and not quite adequate responses in particular. Thus, there is a chance to kill two birds with one stone: normalize morale and work on the physical form. It is important to note that training in the premenstrual phase of the cycle should be gentle: forget for a while about supersets and circular - among other things, hormonal fluctuations also lead to weakness, which has to be considered. Do not try to overcome her coffee or any pre-training complexes with drafty doses of caffeine and taurine - all these substances will again lead to the same anxiety and irritability that we are trying to fight.
It is worth mentioning that reducing stress levels will also ease the situation. Unfavorable soil can increase your emotional charge several times, so it is desirable to prepare this very soil in advance: relaxation techniques, yoga, meditation, a glass of wine with a girlfriend in the end. Perhaps, it’s worthwhile to apologize to your loved ones in advance and directly ask them not to provoke you once again, and you can mention the phrases that can serve as triggers. Yes, and put a cross on your hand, reminding you why others suddenly became nasty: after all, we are endowed with consciousness, and sometimes our own reflection helps us to slow down a little, because it is one thing - a reminder to ourselves, and quite another - abandoned someone comment "yes you have PMS", which finally frustrates with the coils.