--- title: How do psychotic symptoms connected to the menstrual cycle look in different parts of the world? description: In a study of 4 women in Oman with menstrual psychosis, all had psychotic and mood symptoms timed to their menstrual cycle. All had normal intelligence but ha url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/psychiatric-cognitive-functioning-and-socio-cultural-views-of-menstrual-2020/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How do psychotic symptoms connected to the menstrual cycle look in different parts of the world? Case report, 2020 # How do psychotic symptoms connected to the menstrual cycle look in different parts of the world? In a study of 4 women in Oman with menstrual psychosis, all had psychotic and mood symptoms timed to their menstrual cycle. All had normal intelligence but had problems with thinking speed, memory, and planning skills. Early or limited evidence Four women in Oman with menstrual psychosis ## What they did Case series of 4 women in Oman seeking psychiatric care between 2016 and 2017. They were assessed with interviews and tested on their thinking abilities, including intelligence, memory, attention, planning, and speed of thinking. ## What they found All 4 women had psychotic symptoms that happened rhythmically with their menstrual cycle. All scored normally on intelligence tests but had problems with processing speed, episodic memory, and executive function. In their community, this was understood as spirit possession. ## What it means for you Menstrual psychosis involves problems with thinking and memory, not just psychotic symptoms. How people understand and explain the condition differs by culture. What looks like one thing in one country may be understood very differently in another. 4 women studied 2016-2017 years of study ## About the study Original title Psychiatric, cognitive functioning and socio-cultural views of menstrual psychosis in Oman: an idiographic approach Authors Al-Sibani N, Al-Maqbali M, Mahadevan S et al. Journal BMC women's health Year 2020 Study design Case report Participants 4 What was tested Not specified Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-01060-z](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-01060-z) Original abstract Background: Most documented cases of menstrual psychosis have been from Euro-American populations with reports from cross-cultural populations being only a few. A primary aim was to determine whether the cyclical/episodic nature of menstrual psychosis among case series observed at a tertiary care unit in Oman fulfills the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and diverge into Brockington's sub-types (World Psychiatry. 2005;4(1):9-17). Related aims were to solicit measures of psychometric functioning of those with menstrual psychosis and associated idioms of distress. Methods: A series of consecutive patients seeking psychiatric consultation from January 2016 to December 2017 were screened via structured interview-Composite-International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and Brockington's sub-types. The identified patients (n = 4) also underwent psychometric evaluation including examination of affective functioning, intellectual capacity and neuropsychological functioning (i.e.attention and concentration, learning and remembering, executive function, processing speed and speech and language). The analysis of outcome measures was via an idiographic approach. Results: The spectrum of distress among people with menstrual psychosis does not fit existing psychiatric nosology. Evaluations revealed that a majority of the participants displayed something akin to morbid phenomena relating to manic and psychotic symptoms. In the parlance of traditional Omani society, this would be termed "spirit possession". In terms of classification by timing within the menstrual cycle as expounded by Brockington, the present case series in Oman fulfilled the definition of catamenial psychosis and paramenstrual psychosis. With regard to psychometric function, all participants performed adequately on indices of intellectual functioning but appeared to have impairments in neuropsychological functioning, including the dimensions of processing speed, episodic memory, and executive functioning. Within the given society, the periodicity of mind alteration has been attributed to spirit possession. Conclusions: This is one of the first case series of its kind in the country elucidating whether the manifestation of menstrual psychosis among individuals in Oman fulfills the subtypes postulated by Brockington. The present case series suggests that menstrual psychosis is marked with neuropsychological impairments that were previously observed in other phasic manic episodes or brief psychotic disorders. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Bipolar disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-bipolar/)[Schizophrenia and psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-psychosis/)[Menstrual psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-menstrual-psychosis/)[Quality of life and daily functioning](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-quality-of-life/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/) 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. ## Related studies Survey study, 2026 Should PMDD be recognized in Indian law as affecting criminal responsibility? Randomised trial, 2023 What does research show about PMDD neurochemistry? 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