Men to blame for PMS'
By FIONA MACRAE, Daily Mail 08:40am 3rd May 2006


For decades hormones have been blamed for the monthly female ordeal of PMS. Now it seems that men are just as much to blame.

Scientists believe all women suffer the bodily changes that cause the mood swings, lethargy and pain of premenstrual syndrome. But some handle it better than others - thanks to the men in their lives.

Are men to blame for making PMS worse? Have your say in reader comments below

Woman with sleeping partner

Lack of compassion can lead to women becoming angry and argumentative or withdrawn before their period

Caring partners can help ease the symptoms, but unsympathetic men make matters worse.

Lack of compassion can lead to women becoming angry and argumentative or withdrawn and depressed in the days before their period, a University of Leicester psychology conference will hear.

Professor Jane Ussher said: "Women who get the symptoms are biologically no different to women who don't.

"What actually causes the symptoms is a combination of factors - what's happening in your body and what's happening in the environment.

"Men certainly play a significant role in PMS and can play a very significant role in women's depression and anger at that time of the cycle."

Snapping

Similarly, the pressures of juggling work and family life can also lead to women snapping in the days before their period, said the University of Western Sydney psychologist.

"A classic case of PMS is a woman who's working full-time, looking after everyone at home, shopping after work, picking up the kids from school, finding very little space for herself.

"Women are able to keep up this superwoman performance three weeks a month, but, premenstrually, they are not able or willing to do it any more.

"They either withdraw and feel depressed or they can become very angry with the family. I would say it isn't biological - it's to do with what's happening in the family and the relationship."

Professor Ussher backed up her theory by comparing the severity of symptoms suffered by British and Australian women in heterosexual couples and those in lesbian relationships. The study showed that women in lesbian relationships are less blighted by PMS.

The professor told ABC News in Australia: "The way we are interpreting it is that other women are more understanding about premenstrual changes because they often get them themselves.

"So women are less judgmental of it, whereas male partners are much more likely to blame the woman. If you're a premenstrual woman with a woman partner, your partner is more likely to say, 'Put your feet up, go and have a bath, don't worry about what you've got to do today'."

Male partners, in contrast, don't know how to handle the condition. "They feel confused, they feel whatever they say is wrong," said Professor Ussher. "A lot of them just don't understand how it can be happening. Some feel quite helpless."

Around 80 per cent of British women suffer from PMS, experiencing symptoms such as tiredness, irritability and cravings for sugary foods.

This article's... well it's crazy. Hell Hunter made a great point - Ummm so what if the woman has pms if she has a female partner? Great insight there.

This [article] is just another feminist agenda trying to pass off blame onto men. Look, feminists, stop blaming men for every single problem in the world - you're not golden gods.

Men have problems, women have problems.

And to pass off PMS troubles as simply being an act of man has nothing to do with it. What about a teenager who's not married? If she PMS', is it a man's fault for the way she acts? Or perhaps if she doesn't have a father, what then? What if she lives by herself? This is a cruel assumption to say that men are responsible for the way women act during their time of month. I'm sure in certain cases their is an interrelation, but that very interralation that applies here can be co-related to every other case (such as a women during her time of month getting chased by a dog - she'll feel much worst).

It's funny, because after all of the "men and women are equal" issue going on (which is good), the feminists are still ready and willing to place all of their blame of the world on men. Sounds like they're trying to tilt the man-woman scale in their favor.

And as for the scientists that work on autonomy and psychology, it sounds like all they're trying to do is justify their existence. They haven't made any miraculous discovery in a long time. In fact, the only wonderful studies lately have been coming out of the medical and chemistry fields.