---
title: Does the relaxation response help PMS symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes. Women practicing relaxation showed significantly greater improvement than controls, with severe PMS improving by 58% compared to 17% to 27% in other grou
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/alleviation-of-premenstrual-syndrome-symptoms-with-the-relaxation-response-1990/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Does the relaxation response help PMS symptoms?

Randomised trial, 1990

# Does the relaxation response help PMS symptoms?

Yes. Women practicing relaxation showed significantly greater improvement than controls, with severe PMS improving by 58% compared to 17% to 27% in other groups over 5 months.

 Moderate study design

46 women

## What they did

46 women were randomly assigned to three groups: charting, reading, or relaxation response. The relaxation group practiced eliciting the relaxation response regularly. The study lasted 5 months.

## What they found

The relaxation response group showed significantly greater improvement than charting and reading groups on physical symptoms (P < .025 for both). Women with severe symptoms in the relaxation group improved 58.0%, compared with 27.2% in the reading group and 17.0% in the charting group. Emotional and social withdrawal symptoms also improved significantly more in the relaxation group.

## What it means for you

Regular relaxation practice is an effective treatment for PMS, especially for women with severe symptoms. This study used active control groups rather than just observation, which strengthens the findings. However, the sample size is small and results should be confirmed in larger studies.

46

women studied

58%

improvement with severe PMS

5

months study duration

## About the study

Original title Alleviation of premenstrual syndrome symptoms with the relaxation response Authors Goodale IL, Domar AD, Benson H Journal Obstetrics and gynecology Year 1990 Study design Randomised trial Participants 46 What was tested Regular relaxation response practice Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2179779/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2179779/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗