---
title: Can a psychological intervention that addresses self-criticism help women with premenstrual distress?
description: A psychological intervention that helped women recognize and change patterns of self-blame, staying silent, and over-responsibility reduced their premenstrual
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/challenging-the-positioning-of-premenstrual-change-as-pms-the-impact-of-a-2008/
---

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- Can a psychological intervention that addresses self-criticism help women with premenstrual distress?

Study, 2008

# Can a psychological intervention that addresses self-criticism help women with premenstrual distress?

A psychological intervention that helped women recognize and change patterns of self-blame, staying silent, and over-responsibility reduced their premenstrual distress and gave them more control over their emotions.

 Early or limited evidence

12 British women with premenstrual distress

## What they did

Researchers interviewed 12 British women about their experience with premenstrual changes and how they typically responded to these feelings. The women then received a psychological intervention designed to help them recognize patterns like self-silencing, blaming themselves, and taking on too much responsibility. The women were interviewed again after the intervention.

## What they found

Before the intervention, women described themselves as split between two selves, remained silent about their feelings, and felt responsible for managing everyone's emotions. After the intervention, women reported feeling more equal in their relationships, stopped blaming their body for their emotions, and reduced self-sacrifice.

## What it means for you

Addressing how women think and judge themselves may help more than blaming their body for premenstrual emotions. However, this was a small study with only 12 women and no comparison group.

12

women interviewed

## About the study

Original title Challenging the Positioning of Premenstrual Change as PMS: The Impact of a Psychological Intervention on Women's Self-Policing Authors Jane Maria Ussher Journal Qualitative Research in Psychology Year 2008 Study design Study Participants 12 What was tested Woman-centered psychological intervention Read the paper [doi.org/10.1080/14780880701863567](https://doi.org/10.1080/14780880701863567)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)

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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