Most people, including those who menstruate, are taught about the menstrual cycle in middle school. This is at an age when learning about anatomy, reproduction, and sexual health is not necessarily welcomed with open arms. While sex and reproductive education at school address education of the menstrual cycle, it is often culture, media, religion, and familial norms that shape one’s emotional experience and relationship to menstruation.

Imagine that there was a treatment for all these symptoms that doctors often overlooked. The scenario seems unlikely, and yet it’s a depressingly accurate picture of menopausal care for women. There is a treatment, hardly obscure, known as menopausal hormone therapy.

Here’s a deep dive into why your mood changes before your period begins.

We often talk about the physical symptoms of periods, but the psychological impact of menstruation often gets left out of the conversation.

New research suggests that higher stress levels during the pandemic were associated with more changes to women’s menstrual cycles.