A discourse analytic approach to women's experience of Premenstrual Syndrome

Abstract

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is estimated to affect between 10% and 40% of women in terms of serious disruption to their daily lives. However, there is little agreement in the research literature on the subject of the etiological roots of PMS, or on effective methods of prevention or intervention. This has led to what might be termed a crisis or impasse in PMS research: this is manifested by a fragmentation of theory and practice, a splitting of the research camps, and a distinct absence of progression in both theory and methodology. This paper briefly outlines some of the epistemological and methodological limitations in current approaches, and, as part of the solution to the current crisis, argues for a widening of the research agenda to include multifactorial models, qualitative methodologies, and an acknowledgement of the fact that PMS is a gendered problem. The results from a discourse analytic study based on interviews with fourteen women attending a PMS clinic are presented to demonstrate that greater attention should be paid to both the relationship of PMS to female subjectivity and identity, and to the social and discursive context in which the female reproductive body is situated.