Premenstrual tension and depression - is there a relationship?

Abstract

A biological basis for vulnerability to post-partum depression has been hypothesised. Women who experience difficulty in physiologically compensating for the relatively minor changes of the menstrual cycle or who are biologically hypersensitive to subtle endocrinological stimuli are claimed to have even greater difficulty adjusting to the dramatic decrease in steroid output during parturition. A review of the literature found that most studies of parous patients reported an association between the occurrence of post-partum depression and a remembered history of premenstrual tension, menstrual problems and dysmenorrhoea. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether women who clearl..