As women, we are all too accustomed to hiding period pain with fake smiles and slogging ourselves even on days when we feel like dying because of physical and mental suffering.
Because well, the stigma surrounding periods is very strange. You are supposed to feel ashamed about menstruation and also brave the pain because you can’t talk about it.
Recently, John Guillebaud, professor of reproductive health at University College London, told Quartz that there are patients who have described period cramps to b ‘almost as bad as having a heart attack’.
Sounds insane, right? Well, it is.
There have been endless debates on menstrual leaves and while most people are divided on whether they should be granted or not, it’s insensitive to say things like ‘you’re making too big a deal out of this’ or ‘you can take a pill, it will be fine’ to a colleague (or any woman) who is menstruating.
If the pain is as bad as having a heart attack, the pill won’t work. Definitely not for too long.
This finding tells us that we need to make conversations about menstruation normal so that women can openly discuss how intense is the pain they’re feeling.
It also calls for more medical research in this area so that women, especially the ones suffering from disorders like PCOS, can be helped.