Women who suffer from severe menstrual mood swings often find themselves unable to control their erratic emotional reactions that rapidly change from being contently happy to being depressed or angry. Consequently, experts say these mood swings, which are attributable to their menstrual periods, can be helped if they seek medical help, reports Sade Oguntola.Almost everywoman willexperience mood swings to some degree during their lifetimes, especially during their menstrual cycles. Mood swings can become a big problem due to their uncontrollable intensity and frequency during menstruation. Changes in a woman's temper can be very unpredictable and frustrating and they not only impact on her but her family, especially when such changes are severe.Some women have all the luck. They go through menstruation each month without ever suffering pain or discomfort. Others are not as fortunate and these women are the ones prone to suffer from mood swings. They suffer from severe menstrual mood swings, which make them unable to control their erratic emotional reactions.Menstrual mood swings which make women to change from being contently happy to being depressed; unusually sensitive to rejection, social withdrawal feeling overwhelmed or angry; adversely affects their personal relationships because unexplained passionate reactions are difficult to live with.Why does menstrual mood swings occur' Menstrual mood swings are caused by the changing hormone levels that occur during a woman's menstrual cycles. Unlike other mood problems that may be caused by bad circumstances or unpleasant situations, as a woman's progesterone levels fall they begin to experience the dreaded menstrual mood swings.A woman of child-bearing age will experience a menstrual cycle approximately every 28 days. Menstruation is often referred to as menses. There are several phases that the body goes through to complete the menstrual cycle, and it is necessary for a woman's body to go through these phases in order to reproduce. During the menstruation cycle, women have increased levels of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone.The hormone oestrogen is what affects mood. Oestrogen is a 'feel-good' hormone because of the way it affects the brain. This hormone gives increased levels of neurotransmitters to the brain. These chemicals include endorphins, enkephalins and serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that has a direct influence on emotions and appetite. The levels of these chemicals increase in preparation for pregnancy but decline when implantation does not occur. The loss of these chemicals causes mood changes, often referred to as Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, or PMS.Moods during the menstrual cycle swing from elation to depression, and the ranges for each woman can be mild to severe. A condition known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, can happen when emotional and behavioural symptoms become intense. Some of these symptoms are rage, violence, sudden bursts of anger, severe depression and panic attacks. What's more, the cramps bloating, headaches, tension, breast tenderness, food cravings and a feeling of abdomen fullness which occur during menstruation can contribute to how mood is affected during the menstrual cycle. At times these cramps can be extremely painful.Mood swings, also known as phase mood changes, may have natural or unnatural causes. Receiving good and bad news at the same moment certainly warrants a mood swing. But there are also times when a person experiences mood swings for no apparent reason. When this happens, you might want to consult a physician about it as such mood swings could be a symptom of a more seriousIronically, mood swing occurs in all women, especially close to the time of menopause according to Dr Akin-tunde Odukogbe, a consultant obstetrician and gyneacologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State.'Close to menopause, there are wide fluctuations in the levels of the hormones controlling menstruation-oestrogen and progesterone. These have been known to affect the mood very much,' Dr Odukogbe said. 'Even in the middle aged women, there are times when you have a lot of social issues concerning children, husband, material things and achievement of laid down plans, all confusing the picture.'Teenagers are not an exception to mood swings either. According to Dr Odukogbe, the hormonal changes that cause the mood swing might be pronounced in adolescent as well because they have just reached puberty.Puberty is the time when the body system of an adolescent is maturing and as such, the fluctuations in hormonal changes might be more. For instance, some adolescents experience cessation in their menses and in such a situation, their mothers, thinking that they are pregnant takes them to see a doctor, he stated.'You can imagine the psychological problems that attend the girl and her parents,' declared Dr Odukogbe.However, 'the psychological problems in the younger age also need to be taken into consideration because these are girls that are developing. They have issues they might not have been well prepared for, causing a lot of crisis. And also, they have attention from the male folks and that may be very confusing for some of them.'But why do women approaching menopause experience hormonal changes' According to the medical expert, 'the problem is that of the ageing of their body system. Their body system is also not performing well at that time, so this is a critical issue.'Obviously, there are a variety of causes of mood swings in people of all ages. Irrespective of what may be causing the mood swing, Dr Odukogbe advised seeing a medical doctor for help. According to him, there are well-people's clinics run in many hospitals, including UCH, Ibadan, where issues around menopause one of the causes of mood swing can be talked about.'They are not sick people and we do not treat them as such. They are people who may need to understand their body, understand their sexuality and such changes which occur when approaching menopause and how to deal with such changes,' he said. 'Of course, there would be some of such people in whom actual diseases may be detected as being responsible for their mood swing.'For instance, with medical problems such as bipolar depression and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, mood swings are prevalent symptoms, sometimes because they find it extremely difficult to achieve certain things in life, things that may come naturally to other people, or because they do not understand the cause of their inadequacies.Meanwhile, expert's advice on coping with many unpleasant menstrual side effects such as mood swings include the following: living a healthy lifestyle to ensure a healthy and fit body through eating balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables; regular exercises, avoidance of consumption of too much caffeine or alcohol; adequate sleep and cessation of smoking.
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