Skip to main content

MINI REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Perinatal Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1410813
This article is part of the Research Topic Psychiatric Illness Across the Menstrual Cycle View all articles

Understanding Premenstrual Exacerbation: Navigating the Intersection of the Menstrual Cycle and Psychiatric Illnesses

Provisionally accepted
Jenny Lin Jenny Lin 1*Christine Nunez Christine Nunez 1Leah Susser Leah Susser 2Liliya Gershengoren Liliya Gershengoren 1
  • 1 New York University, New York City, New York, United States
  • 2 Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, New York, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Premenstrual exacerbation of an existing psychiatric disorder refers to the worsening of symptoms inherent to the condition during the premenstrual phase. Research consistently indicates that hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle present a unique period of vulnerability for the onset or exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, impacting diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment. This review sought to elucidate the phenomenon of premenstrual exacerbation and its impact across a spectrum of psychiatric illnesses, including mood, anxiety, psychotic, obsessive-compulsive, personality, and trauma-related disorders. Despite the expanded research in recent years on premenstrual dysphoric disorder and premenstrual syndrome, premenstrual exacerbation remains underexplored and poorly defined. This review offers significant contributions to the diagnosis and management of psychiatric conditions, advocating for heightened awareness and novel treatment approaches in the context of premenstrual exacerbation.

    Keywords: Premenstrual exacerbation, Premenstrual disorders, Women's Mental Health, Menstrual Cycle, Mood Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Personality Disorders

    Received: 01 Apr 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lin, Nunez, Susser and Gershengoren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jenny Lin, New York University, New York City, 10012, New York, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.