Mood, Sexuality, Hormones and the Menstrual Cycle. I. Changes in Mood and Physical State: Description of Subjects and Method

Mood and physical symptoms through the menstrual cycle were investigated in 55 women with normal ovulatory cycles. One-third had attended a clinic with severe premenstrual syndrome (clinic PMS group); the remainder were volunteers either with a history of PMS (non-clinic PMS group) or without (no PMS group). Each cycle was divided into six hormonally distinct phases on the basis of repeated hormone measurement. Self-ratings of "well-being" reached their maximum in the late follicular phase, declining throughout the luteal half of the cycle. This pattern was pronounced and statistically significant in the "clinic" and "nonclinic PMS" groups. In all three groups, "physical distress" increased during the second half of the cycle to reach a maximum in the late luteal phase. A clear temporal relationship was therefore demonstrated between mood, physical state, and hormonal phases of the cycle. It remains uncertain whether changes in the "clinic" group were extreme forms of a normal pattern or were qualitatively different.