I’m not hysterical… it’s my hormones
We are all familiar with that experiment in which a Mentos is dropped into a bottle of cola - and the bottle rockets.
This is how I often imagine our hormones to work in our bodies. If we imagine our body as the bottle and our hormones as the Mentos – then the chemical reaction can be explosive, emotionally speaking.
Now imagine having more than one chemical and alternating those chemicals. Our body is constantly being “fed” fluctuating amounts of different hormones: the main ones being oestrogen and progesterone.
In simple terms oestrogen increases in the first two weeks of the menstrual cycle and causes the build-up of the uterine lining each month in preparation for pregnancy. As it drops, the woman menstruates.
Progesterone takes over during the second half of the menstrual cycle when levels rise after the monthly egg is released from the ovary. In case of pregnancy levels keep rising. If not, levels fall, signalling the body to shed the uterine lining during menstruation. This comes with symptoms many of us know pretty well: bloating, breast tenderness, acne and changes in mood often referred to as premenstrual syndrome - PMS.
This happens on a loop.
Every. Single. Month.
We learn to get used to it and read the signs before the symptoms take over. But this takes time and experience. When a young woman first gets her period, she has to figure it out from scratch.
It’s an emotional minefield.
Hormones are powerful
As women, we know how powerful hormones are. Because we live with these chemicals fluctuating through our bodies ever since we hit puberty.
But many of us don’t truly comprehend how powerful. We don’t always realize that that unexplained bad mood, or that sudden bout of anger and emotional outburst is not because we are “unstable” or “hysterical”. It is because hormones are powerful and they impact the way we feel, and therefore, behave.
This is a fact.
Gynaecologist Mark Formosa explains: “A woman’s journey through the reproductive phase is characterised by a number of issues which can amount to quality-of-life situations when they become manifest and perhaps even extreme. The first step in this journey is puberty.
“Over a period of years a happy child is transformed into an adolescent female with all the physical and mental changes that it brings about. A child’s body is slowly transformed into a female reproductive one with the appearance of all the secondary sexual characteristics - a dramatic change which influences the psyche in no small way. This transformation represents a challenge for the individual and not all girls handle this equally. While some embrace it and are ready mentally to move into the next phase of their life, others find it difficult and this leads to social pressure etc,” he says.
“The hardest thing about changing is the period. I don’t mind the blood, the cramps specifically are what's painful and I wish they didn’t exist. Two days before my period, I will become a bit moody and pimples will show up on my face.”
It is round about this time that the emotions and feelings start getting amplified and the insecurities emerge.
Also to bear in mind is that all this is new: so a young woman is dealing with the novelty of these emotions and thoughts.
As one teenage girl explains: “I have definitely become more emotional and get stressed more easily over the last few years and I'm sure hormones played a huge part in that.”
Another teen adds: “I can say that hormones did change me, but not very drastically. There were some physical changes, and I matured from when I was 12, but not much other than that. The hardest thing about changing is the period. I don’t mind the blood, the cramps specifically are what's painful and I wish they didn’t exist. Two days before my period, I will become a bit moody and pimples will show up on my face.”
Another teen said: “I noticed that at times I might be oversensitive. Having to go out when you're in pain is obviously not fun but overall, I don't think it affects me that much.”
Relearning your body
If I had to think back to those days, when I entered puberty, I recall feeling uncomfortable yet eager. I really wanted to get my period and start developing breasts – like my peers – but when it started to happen I wanted to hide my chest and I hated the feeling of getting my period – that introduced me to a whole new level of pain and discomfort.
Formosa explains that during adolescence there are a number of physical changes occurring not just reproductive ones.
“There is a growth spurt and the appearance of hair and breasts will lead to changes in a young woman’s clothes, habits etc. There is also the effect of oestrogen on the brain with the onset of interest in males and sexual desire.
“While all this can be positive there are also negative aspects to this and this is mainly due to the reproductive cycle. Since a woman goes through a cycle once a month there are significant changes in hormone levels on a monthly basis and these changes are associated with possible mood swings. So from a simple life with a steady mental state of affairs a young adolescent is challenged by repeated swings in mood as her cycle stabilises, by changes in her body and by the onset of sexual desire.
“This is not an easy challenge and can easily affect a person’s mental state leading to a negative performance at school, and during other activities she may be involved in, such as athletics,” he says.
Young girls need to understand this as do others around them - from their mothers to the fathers and friends at school, boys included. While exercise and lifestyle can help, the reality remains that women cannot control the way they feel (unless they are on medication to control their hormones)… Just like that bottle can’t stop itself from rocketing once you drop in that little round sweet.
But by understanding why she is feeling and thinking the way she is, she can better handle those emotions. And if the people around that young woman also understand what’s going on: they can hold on to that bottle before it explodes.