What is PMS?

PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome, a condition that occurs 2 to 14 days before menstruation. PMS involves physical, behavioral, and psychological changes that reduce normal activity and degrade relationships. It stops shortly after the onset of menstruation.

PMS is triggered by hormonal changes after the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). In Britain, it is known as PMT, premenstrual tension.

Who discovered PMS ?

PMS symptoms were first reported in medical literature in 1931 by Drs. Frank and Horney.

The term premenstrual syndrome was not coined until 1953 by Dr. Katharina Dalton, a GP. Dr. Dalton was herself a PMS sufferer, whose most noticeable symptom was a monthly migraine. She set up the first PMS clinic in Britain with endocrinologist Dr. Raymond Greene, and ran it for 40 years, until her retirement in 2000 at age 84. Dr. Dalton was often sought out to give expert testimony supporting female defendants

claimed diminished responsibility due to premenstrual syndrome.

In 1987, PMS was rechristened late luteal phase dysphoric disorder (LLPDD) in the “Bible” of psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III). In the 2000 edition of the DSM-IV, it was again renamed to premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Most lay people still refer to it as PMS. PMDD usually connotes a much more serious condition.

Click here to read about the symptoms of PMS