a war man does not know: menstruation
If you are in a relationship or you are married, then you must have faced some problems from your female or AFAB partner with an excuse you deemed insufficient, and that is that they suffer from changes in their hormones due to their menstrual cycle. They tell you that you must respect that but, are they right?
Yes, my friend, they are right! Hormones play an important role in affecting women's mood and that effect is caused by two main hormones; estrogen and progesterone.
Estrogen is the hormone that defines one's features and everything that distinguishes them as a person. It also increases the level of serotonin and endorphins in the brain, making one in a positive and happy mood. The rate of estrogen is not constant all the time, it changes according to the menstrual cycle and ovarian secretion, hence the mood swings in women. The less estrogen, the less serotonin, and thus your problems increase.
On the other hand, there's progesterone, which works on a small area of the brain called the amygdala, triggering stress and anxiety. Progesterone may have the same effect as depressants and alcohol, this explains why contraceptive pills lead to depression; because they contain progesterone.
These two hormones work side by side, each making up for the other's deficiency, hence we can understand that when the estrogen level decreases, and the progesterone level increases, one’s mood is very bad and may become depressive at times, accompanied by several other symptoms such as a change in appetite and muscle fatigue, which is known as pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS.)
PMS symptoms vary in severity from person to person. While some women and AFAB may only experience a slight change in their moods others experience symptoms severe enough to affect their daily lives, at this time they may need calmness and for those around them to be aware of the internal war they are going through with their hormones so, be kind to your partner.