--- title: Do women with menstrual-related mood disorders perceive life events differently during their cycle? description: Women with menstrual mood disorders reported significantly more negative events and experienced more distress from the same events during the premenstrual pha url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/state-dependent-alterations-in-the-perception-of-life-events-in-menstrual-1990/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do women with menstrual-related mood disorders perceive life events differently during their cycle? Case-control study, 1990 # Do women with menstrual-related mood disorders perceive life events differently during their cycle? Women with menstrual mood disorders reported significantly more negative events and experienced more distress from the same events during the premenstrual phase. This suggests perception changes with cycle timing. Early or limited evidence 40 women with menstrual-related mood disorder and 20 control women ## What they did They had 40 women with confirmed menstrual-related mood disorder and 20 control women report on daily life events and how distressed or pleased they felt about them during the follicular and late-luteal phases of their cycle. ## What they found The patient group reported significantly more negative life events than control subjects. The same events caused significantly more distress to the patient group when they occurred in the premenstrual phase than when they occurred in the post-menstrual phase. ## What it means for you How women perceive and respond emotionally to life events may change across their menstrual cycle, and may be part of why some women develop menstrual mood disorders. Women may not experience more bad things, but they may feel worse about the same events at certain cycle times. This is observational research, so causation is unclear. 40 women with mood disorder 20 control women 2 cycle phases tested ## About the study Original title State-dependent alterations in the perception of life events in menstrual-related mood disorders Authors Schmidt PJ, Grover GN, Hoban MC et al. Journal The American journal of psychiatry Year 1990 Study design Case-control study Participants 40 What was tested None; observational study across cycle phases Read the paper [doi.org/10.1176/ajp.147.2.230](https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.147.2.230) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/) 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 Case-control study, 2026 Do women with PMS handle emotions differently at different times of the cycle? Systematic review, 2012 Does the menstrual cycle cause negative mood, especially before your period? Study, 2026 What coping strategies help women manage PMS symptoms? Cohort study, 2026 Does the menstrual cycle phase affect how much physical activity women do? Cohort study, 2026 How do beliefs about control and ways of handling emotions affect distress before your period? Randomised trial, 2025 Does asking about positive experiences change how women report premenstrual symptoms? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗