What How Common Is It?
A staggering number of women have PMS at some point in their Recent studies show that up to 80 to 85 percent of women experience PMS symptoms, or about 43 million to 55 million women annually (based on U.S. Census figures). Between 20 and 40 percent women say the symptoms are bad enough that they cause a in behavior that is noticeable by themselves and others. This considered to have “menstrual distress.” A small number of women—between 3 and 5 percent—have PMDD, which is characterized severe emotional and physical symptoms that affect their daily lives.
By definition, only women who are menstruating can get girls and women who are not yet menstruating, menopausal and women who are not ovulating—whether because they or for some other reason—cannot get PMS because they have periods. Some experts have tried to divide PMS into levels of severity:
PMS:Low-level symptoms (mild discomfort), sometimes called premenstrual tension.
PMS:Regular or standard symptoms, also known distress.
PMDD:Severe emotional and physical symptoms.
PMM:Premenstrual magnification is not PMS but a condition in which other illnesses are intensified during the phase.
Where you fall on the spectrum depends on the severity symptoms, but suffice it to say, whether you have mild or severe you are not alone.
The Official Diagnosis
Although a great number of women suffer from PMS, many aren't officially diagnosed. A medical diagnosis requires that a woman's social activities or work-related performance must be notably impaired and her symptoms must occur consistently during two cycles (and she must record or chart her symptoms). In addition, those symptoms must be unrelated to any prescription drugs or hormone therapies, or to drug or alcohol use.
Fact
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines PMS as the cyclic occurrence of symptoms that are sufficiently severe to interfere with some aspects of life, and that appear with consistent and predictable relationship to a woman’s menstrual flow, known as menses.
A 1999 survey of 445 U.S. women showed that nearly one-third (31 percent) of those reporting PMS symptoms met the medical criteria for PMS and that fewer than half (45 percent) with severe medical symptoms sought help. A staggering 58 percent did not think any treatment would help!
