British survey shows P.M.S. still not taken seriously

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 8

British survey shows P.M.S. still not taken seriously

It makes women crash cars, attack their children, turn thieves, and bewilder their husbands, but still premenstrual tension has to fight hard to excite the sympathy of the medical profession. PENNY CHORLTON, “Observer,” on the trauma revealed in a recent British study.

“Woman” magazine recently asked me to research pre-menstrual tension (PMT) and to help launch the largest ever survey into the subject.

The preliminary results reveal an astonishing similarity of suffering on a scale that makes very sad reading. PMT is very much more than mere tension — hence the new label “syndrome” (PMS).

Results show, unambiguously, that PMS is a problem of sometimes devastating proportions. It makes many women’s lives a misery and those of their partners and children. Furthermore, it is widely unrecognised, misunderstood, and. un-

treated. Women crash their cars, or have nearmisses, attack their children, steal things, and even commit suicide — or attempt to — under its overpowering influence. Many had either never attempted to seek treatment, assuming this was something they had to put up with and many more who had tried, had failed to get help. Only 14 per

cent said they had found a cure that worked for them, and a similar number said they had found a part-cure. Far too many doctors had refused to diagnose PMS, even when presented with evidence in the form of a “symptondiary,” and had prescribed anti-depressants for the 10 per cent who suffered bad bouts of de-

pression. The survey also shows that female doctors were no more sympathetic — indeed often less so. Perhaps they feel, like other career women, that to acknowledge PMS as a major cause of behavioural upset in women underlines the differences between them and men, and so undermines the equality they have sought.

When it comes to dealing with the condition the survey found that women have suffered PMS for up to 25 years, without finding a cure. Many of them have spent literally half their lives — two weeks out of every four — feeling like a different incomplete human being and the other two weeks worrying about the next bout. A Dr Jekyll waiting for Mrs Hyde. There is a great need for more research to discover better sources of relief. For those who have found a cure, Vitamin B 6 is the cheapest and more accessible answer for two out of three women, but there is a danger of overdosing. Oil of Evening Primrose is also very effective but is rather expensive, so is only taken by one in eight sufferers.

Many women have worked out “cocktails” of their own therapies, gleaned from mothers, fellow-sufferers, and trial and error.

All these formulations will be assessed in time and the answers disseminated to help other women — and the people who live with them.

So far, we do not even know how many women are affected — estimates vary from 2 per cent to 90 per cent. The consensus is that more women do suffer from it than do not.