Many girls enter puberty and become fearful of menstruation. This very natural biological process is a milestone for young girls, and it represents a new state of fertility. While certain young women may embrace the changes taking place in their bodies, others come to dread the process itself, which can include considerable pain and other symptoms. If you have a phobia about menstruation, you suffer from Menophobia.
Reasons For Menphobia
There are several reasons why girls may fear this natural process, which has always signified the beginning of womanhood. Lack of education is one primary reason why girls are afraid of menstruation. The type of information they have received about their periods may influence their frame of mind. If a girl has not been prepared for what is going to happen in a positive way, she may be frightened or repulsed by her own menstrual flow.
Pain Is A Trigger
Other girls dread the pain that comes along with periods. Sometimes, the symptoms of PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) can cause great anxiety in women of any age. Mood swings, phases of weepiness or anger, and bloating and swelling of the abdomen and legs or common. These all contribute to a feeling of dread regarding menstruation.
The cramps associated with periods are a powerful trigger for Menophobia. They can be extremely painful, much more so that one might expect. To a young woman, this monthly suffering can seem almost unbearable. Pain relievers like Midol, and prescription muscles relaxants can provide welcome relief from symptoms. They may also ease some of the worst aspects of Menophobia.
Bleeding Can Be Frightening
The bleeding that comes with periods can be quite heavy, and it can be repulsive to women. They may grow to fear the flow that emanates from their own bodies. Heavy periods can be cause for alarm. Some women need to supplement iron in their bodies in order to make up for the loss of that mineral during menstruation. For girls who are experiencing menstruation for the first time, this bleeding can be traumatic.
Shame Can Be A Factor
There are other reason for the fear of menstruation. Sometimes, women will have experienced intense shame and embarrassment when stains from their periods appear on their pants or skirt. It is not always possible to know when your period will start, and it can be shaming to have the outside world see blood stains. Women may become fearful about protecting themselves from such stains, taking many precautions to ensure such an accident won’t happen again.
Treatment
Many women with Menophobia may need counselling in order to feel better about what is happening to their bodies. Young girls and women should always be able to talk to a sensitive doctor, nurse or trusted friend about their feelings of dread. Fearing menstruation is quite common, and fears can be eased and even erased when the root cause of the phobia is revealed.
Those with persistent Menophobia may turn to new forms of birth control, which offer fewer periods per year. So far, no adverse side effects from these new forms of birth control have been reported, beyond the regular side effects of birth control. But these new methods of birth control may not be enough to completely relieve the fear of menstruation.
Psychotherapy is key with persistent cases of Menophobia. It’s important for anyone who fears periods to realize they are simply an unavoidable fact of life. If pain is a factor, prescriptions should be obtained to make menstruation tolerable. There is truly no reason to suffer. The first step should always be education about the female body as it enters puberty, as well as education about pain management and other ways to ease the tension that comes along with having a monthly period.
