---
title: Does calling PMS a psychiatric condition change how people think about it?
description: Labeling it as a psychiatric condition increased recommendations for psychiatric help. However, it did not cause the widespread negative effects like increase
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/labeling-effects-of-a-controversial-psychiatric-diagnosis-a-vignette-experiment-2000/
---

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- Does calling PMS a psychiatric condition change how people think about it?

Lab study, 2000

# Does calling PMS a psychiatric condition change how people think about it?

Labeling it as a psychiatric condition increased recommendations for psychiatric help. However, it did not cause the widespread negative effects like increased stigma or misuse that some people feared.

 Early or limited evidence

307 men and women in Putnam County, New York

## What they did

307 men and women in New York were shown written scenarios describing someone with premenstrual mood and physical symptoms. Some scenarios labeled the problem as a 'psychiatric condition' (Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder), and some did not. Researchers measured how people responded to the scenarios.

## What they found

Labeling the symptoms as a psychiatric condition increased recommendations for psychiatric help. In general, the label did not cause large negative impacts like greatly increased stigma or being misused as a defense for violent crimes. The overall impact of labeling was mixed.

## What it means for you

Using a psychiatric label does make people more likely to recommend professional help, which could be good for someone who needs support. However, fears that the diagnosis would greatly increase stigma or be misused to excuse violence were not supported by this data. The main limit is that this was a hypothetical scenario study, not measuring real-world experiences of women with the diagnosis.

307

Study participants

2

Labeling conditions tested

## About the study

Original title Labeling effects of a controversial psychiatric diagnosis: a vignette experiment of late luteal phase dysphoric disorder Authors Schwartz S, Weiss L, Lennon MC Journal Women & health Year 2000 Study design Lab study Participants 307 What was tested None—testing effect of labeling in written scenarios Read the paper [doi.org/10.1300/j013v30n03_05](https://doi.org/10.1300/j013v30n03_05)

## Topics

[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)[Legal and forensic](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-legal-crime/)

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