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A Study of Minor Psychiatric and Physical Symptoms During the Menstrual Cycle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

P. J. V. Beumont ,
D. H. Richards  and
M. G. Gelder
P. J. V. Beumont
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
D. H. Richards
Affiliation:
West Lodge, Dunstan Road, Old Headington, Oxford
M. G. Gelder
Affiliation:
University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX
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Extract

Premenstrual tension (PMT) has hitherto not been accurately defined. The term refers to a cluster of symptoms, both psychological and physical, which appear episodically in relation to the phases of the menstrual cycle—either strictly in the premenstruum (Rees, 1953), or also at other times, such as at ovulation (Dalton, 1964). Most previous studies of the syndrome have been ‘retrospective’, i.e. women have been asked to report the presence of PMT during a previous cycle. McCance, Luff and Widdowson (1937) and Altman, Knowles and Bull (1941), who required their subjects to chart mood state daily, pointed to a discrepancy between the frequency of the condition as reported in studies using retrospective questioning and in their own findings. It is hardly surprising that there is controversy concerning the prevalence of a condition which is so poorly defined as is PMT.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 126 , Issue 5 , May 1975 , pp. 431 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1975 

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References

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