Periods, PMDD & hormones

When you track your mood alongside your cycle, it becomes easier to tell if low days line up with the time before your period, or if they happen all month.

How to track

1. Mark the first day of your period on a calendar or app
2. Each day, rate your mood from 0 to 10
3. Add one or two words: “irritable”, “teary”, “calm”
4. Note sleep and any big stress
5. After two or three cycles, look for a pattern

Once you know your harder days, you can plan around them: lighter plans, more rest, and a heads-up to the people you live with.

Hormone-related mood changes tend to follow a pattern: before periods, after birth, when starting birth control, or in perimenopause. Hormone shifts at these times can bring on depression in some women.

Many teens notice they feel more irritable, teary or tired in the days before a period. Tracking periods and moods on a calendar or app can show a pattern, and it helps a doctor or nurse understand.

Worth checking with a doctor if

• Cycles are still very long or irregular about three years after the first period
• Mood changes before your period feel very strong or scary
• No period has started by age 15
• Period pain stops you going to school or doing things you enjoy
• Periods started before age 8

In the 2023 CDC survey, 82% of high school girls used social media at least several times a day. Girls who used it this often were more likely to have been bullied online and to feel persistently sad or hopeless (55% compared with 44%). The survey can’t prove social media causes sadness, but the link is worth noticing.

Things that can help

• Block and report anyone who bullies you, and tell a trusted adult
• Keep phones out of the bedroom at night
• Notice how you feel after scrolling, and take breaks
• Unfollow accounts that make you feel worse about your body or life

Puberty brings breasts, hips, body hair, skin changes and growth spurts, all at different times for different people. It is normal to feel self-conscious. Comparing yourself with friends, or with edited photos online, can make it worse.

Kinder ways to see yourself

• Focus on what your body lets you do: dance, play, laugh, hug
• Remember that photos online are often filtered or edited
• Talk back to harsh thoughts the way you would defend a friend
• Wear clothes that feel comfortable for the body you have now

Ways to help

• Ask about her online life with curiosity, not judgment
• Avoid comments about her weight or body, or your own
• If she seems low for weeks, help her see a doctor or counselor
• Keep supplies at home where she can get them without asking
• Notice changes in sleep, eating, friendships or grades
• Talk about periods before they start, in a matter-of-fact way

It can include

• Feeling sad, low or teary
• Feeling tired, or sleeping badly
• Food cravings and bloating
• Irritability or snapping at people
• Mood swings, tension or anxiety
• Trouble focusing or remembering

Ideas

• Aiming for about 8 hours of sleep
• Easing stress: talking with friends, journaling, yoga or meditation
• Eating mostly healthy foods, and cutting back on caffeine, salt and sugar in the two weeks before your period
• Not smoking, which is linked to stronger symptoms
• Regular exercise all month long, not just when symptoms start

Telling the people close to you about your harder days helps them understand. It is not an excuse for hurting others, and it is not a reason for them to dismiss your feelings either. Both of you can plan for those days together.

Ideas

• A code word for “I’m having a hard day”
• Lighter plans and simpler meals that week
• Taking a pause before big conversations
• Time alone if you need it

With PMDD, the mood changes before a period are intense. Symptoms usually ease within two to three days after the period starts.

It can feel like

• Body symptoms like cramps, bloating, headaches or aching joints
• Deep sadness or hopelessness, sometimes with thoughts of suicide
• Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
• Losing interest in people and things you usually enjoy
• Strong irritability or anger that feels out of your control
• Tension, anxiety or panic attacks

No one knows exactly what causes PMDD. Experts think some women may be extra sensitive to the normal hormone changes of the cycle. It is a real health condition, not a personality flaw.

Many women with PMDD also have anxiety or depression.

To check for PMDD, a doctor reviews your health history, does an exam and asks you to keep a calendar or diary of your symptoms. They look for a pattern of symptoms, including at least one mood symptom, that comes before your period.

Ideas

• A balanced diet with less salt and sugar
• More physical activity
• Relaxation techniques and doing things you enjoy
• Talking it through with a therapist
• Telling the people close to you, so they understand

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) in May 2026, after a global consensus published in The Lancet. The new name reflects that it affects hormones and metabolism across the body, not just the ovaries. Many doctors will still say PCOS for a while.

It usually starts around puberty. Symptoms can include irregular periods, extra hair growth or hair loss, acne, weight gain, tiredness and trouble getting pregnant. The NHS lists depression and anxiety among its main symptoms.

Symptoms that change how you look can hit self-esteem hard, especially for teens. Worry about fertility can add to the weight. These feelings are understandable, and support helps.

What can help

• Kind self-talk about the symptoms you didn’t choose
• Regular movement and balanced meals, for body and mood
• Support groups or online communities for people with PMOS
• Talking therapy if you feel low or anxious

Endometriosis affects about 10% of women and girls of reproductive age worldwide, around 190 million people. It can cause severe period pain, pelvic pain that lasts all month, pain during sex, heavy bleeding, tiredness and trouble getting pregnant.

It often takes 4 to 12 years to get a diagnosis. The World Health Organization says stigma and the downplaying of period pain make things worse. Depression, anxiety and social isolation are common effects.

What can help

• A pain and period diary to show your provider
• Bringing someone with you to appointments to back you up
• Pacing your energy on bad days
• Support groups for people with endometriosis
• Therapy for the emotional toll of living with pain

Many women are told period pain is “normal” for years. Pain that stops you doing everyday things deserves to be checked.

Phrases that can help

• “Here is my diary from the last three months.”
• “I’d like a second opinion.”
• “This pain stops me going to work or school. I need it looked into.”
• “What else could this be, and what is the next step?”

In the same study, women who could not afford period products every month were more likely to report moderate or severe depression than those who never faced this. Black and Latina women reported period poverty more often.

Places you could ask

• Community food banks and pantries
• Faith and community groups
• School or college nurse’s offices and student centers

The World Health Organization says stigma and the downplaying of period pain make endometriosis harder to diagnose. When periods are treated as shameful, it is harder to speak up about pain or mood.

Ways to push back

• Talk about periods openly and matter-of-factly at home
• Use plain words, not code names
• Teach boys about periods too
• Keep spare products in shared bathrooms at work or school

A large Danish study followed over 1 million women aged 15 to 34. Those using hormonal birth control were somewhat more likely to be diagnosed with depression or to start depression treatment than those who weren’t. Teens aged 15 to 19 seemed the most sensitive.

This kind of study shows a link, not proof that birth control causes depression. Many people notice no change in mood, and some feel better. Everyone is different.

If you are worried

• Don’t stop suddenly on your own, as this can lead to an unplanned pregnancy
• Talk with your clinical provider about how you feel. There are different options
• Track your mood for a few weeks, noting when you started or changed birth control

An underactive thyroid can cause tiredness and depression. An overactive thyroid can cause nervousness, irritability and trouble sleeping. Both are more common in women.

Thyroid problems can also start after having a baby. The Pregnancy & after birth guide explains postpartum thyroid changes.

Pregnancy, caring for a baby, stress and depression are all common reasons for low desire. When your mind is busy with a long to-do list, it can be hard to switch into feeling close.

Ideas

• Be gentle with yourself in seasons like new parenthood
• Plan time to connect that isn’t about sex
• Share the load at home, so you have energy left for yourself
• Talk honestly about what helps you relax

Testosterone is often called a “male” hormone, but women’s ovaries and adrenal glands make it too, in much smaller amounts. In women it plays a part in sex drive, energy, mood, and bone and muscle strength. Levels are highest around age 20 and slowly drop with age.

Cleveland Clinic says low testosterone doesn’t cause clear signs in women the way it does in men, partly because estrogen is the main female sex hormone. Research in this area is still limited.

Low desire is very common and nothing to be ashamed of. Some people don’t experience sexual attraction at all, and that is a valid identity, not something to fix.

Words that can help

• “I believe you.”
• “Do you want me to come to the appointment with you?”
• “Is this one of your harder weeks? What would help?”
• “Your pain is real. Let’s get it looked at.”

Try to avoid

• “Is it that time of the month?” during a disagreement
• “It’s just your hormones.”
• “Everyone gets cramps.”
• “You’re overreacting.”

Ideas

• Agree on a signal for hard days
• Help track symptoms if she wants you to
• Keep that week lighter: fewer plans, easy meals
• Know the warning signs of dark thoughts, and the number 988