---
title: Do women without mental health problems experience mood and anxiety changes during their cycle?
description: Women without current or past mental health issues experienced only minor cycle-related mood changes. Water retention was the only symptom that reached statis
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/anxiety-and-mood-fluctuation-during-the-normal-menstrual-cycle-1982/
---

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- Do women without mental health problems experience mood and anxiety changes during their cycle?

Survey study, 1982

# Do women without mental health problems experience mood and anxiety changes during their cycle?

Women without current or past mental health issues experienced only minor cycle-related mood changes. Water retention was the only symptom that reached statistical significance.

 Early or limited evidence

11 women (average age 23) with no current or past mental health problems

## What they did

11 women with no history of mental health problems were evaluated daily for hormone levels, mood, and behavior throughout their cycle.

## What they found

Subjects experienced only minor fluctuations in mood ratings. Water retention was the only symptom achieving statistical significance. Premenstrual elevations in mood and anxiety were not statistically significant.

## What it means for you

This suggests that marked mood and anxiety changes linked to PMS may be more common in women with underlying mood conditions. However, this is a very small study of only women without mental health history, so it doesn't show what happens in women with PMS.

11

women studied

23

average age

## About the study

Original title Anxiety and mood fluctuation during the normal menstrual cycle Authors Lahmeyer HW, Miller M, DeLeon-Jones F Journal Psychosomatic medicine Year 1982 Study design Survey study What was tested None - observational study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198205000-00004](https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198205000-00004)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)

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.

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