Period Mood Swings: Four Self-Care Tips to Manage During the Roller Coaster Ride!

Pre-menstrual symptoms are quite tricky. Most women experience abdominal pain that seems unbearable many a time. In the beginning years, I used to experience abdominal pain that made me roll over my bedsheets throughout. But as I reached the mid-20s, some new symptoms like lower-body pain, nausea, and severe mood swings came over to make my periods more gruesome and hate-worthy.

While I had heard of mood swings and irritation that women go through during periods, my concern grew stronger when the feeling of sadness and depression became common for me. During many cycles, I would just cry over nothing, overthinking would start taking all over my mind, and even anxiety attacks would become a usual thing.

While these mood swings started freaking me out about my mental health, I found out after a lot of research that it is pretty NORMAL to have depression and anxiety during your 20s while you’re on your periods. And the good news is ‘they only occur during your periods due to some hormonal imbalances’.

Even though these hormonal changes are termed as normal, the depressing and anxious days are still hard to pass. And I’m sure there might be a lot of women who don’t know what to do in such situations when you’re not doing good, both physically and emotionally.

While I’m still learning to cope up with these emotional roller coaster rides, I would like to help all the ladies with some self-care tips that work for me and hoping that they will work for you as well.

1. Eat Dark Chocolates

Dark chocolates are a proven remedy for both period cramps and well as mental health issues. You require no extra effort to do this. You can prepare your favorite chocolate ganache from a block of dark chocolate to enjoy it further or eat it as it is!

2. Create Mandala Art

It’s quite a difficult task to indulge in any creative process while you’re not emotionally well, but it just takes a little bit of a positive attitude from your side. After all, there is no one else in this world who can push you to take a step towards your well-being, except you! I recommend mandala art here because it doesn’t require any specific skillset to create mandala art. Even someone like me, who knows nothing about drawing, can create easy mandala art. In clinical studies, Mandala art has been proven to reduce stress, pain, and depression. You just require your old geometry box (for scale, compass, and pencil) and mandala markers. You can watch tutorials for beginners on YouTube.

3. Listen to Soft Music

We all know that music has various healing effects, and for me, it has been one of the best remedies to ease my period cramps. I used to just lay down in my bed and tune into my favorite melodies. You can try listening to some soothing music if you’re feeling down, it will also help in cheering up the mood. And here’s my special mention to Arijit Singh and Prateek Kuhad playlists (these guys are not just singers, but healers too!)

4. Binge Watch Your Favorite TV Series/Movies

Binge-watching is a great way to take your mind off the overthinking and anxiety. When you’re not in a very good emotional space, you seek to escape, and movies and TV series are a great escape. There are so many OTT platforms where popular movies and TV series are available. Pick any of your favorites and binge-watch!

Try the above-mentioned tips to help yourself during nasty periods and let me know if any of these works out for you. I would also love to know what your self-care remedies for period cramps are! Let me know in the comments.