PMS as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)

For those of you who do not know, PMS stands for Premenstrual syndrome. Wikipedia surprisingly gets the definition dead on, stating “PMS refers to physical and emotional symptoms that occur in the one to two weeks before a woman’s period. Symptoms often vary between women and resolve around the start of bleeding. Common symptoms include acne, tender breasts, bloating, feeling tired, irritability, and mood changes.”

Now I know society makes a lot of jokes about women and their time of the month.

Even the joke of a President of the USA stated, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her…wherever,” referring to moderator Megyn Kelly in 2015. (https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/wild-donald-trump-quotes/27/)

I began my period when I was eleven years old. It was terrifying and embarrassing. I had cramps so bad I felt like I couldn’t walk.

As a young adult, I took some yoga workshops and found out a new term. A personality type called The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). A book with the same title by Author Elaine Aron was life changing.

All of the things I had learned about myself seemed to align perfectly with her writings. I was not ‘too sensitive’ as I had always been told. I was not alone. My sensitivity is a strength…not a weakness.

That being said, I now understood why I felt everything more intensely. The irritability I felt during my PMS was very real, but as long as I could acknowledge that it was temporary, it no longer took over my emotions during that special time of the month.