History of Premenstrual Syndrome

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I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions of websites where I could get resources for the History of premenstrual syndrome. I'm interested in the biological, social, cultural and psychological origins of premenstrual syndrome. I have to write a paper on this topic for my history of psychology course, and I'm having a hard time finding enough resources. Thank you for you help.

-- Erin Freeman (Erinladybg27@aol.com), May 06, 2001

Answers

I do not know of any websites, but if you're interested in a critical perspective on the "manufacture" of the syndrome, Carol Tavris's (1992) book, The Mismeasure of Woman, is a good place to start. Tavris provides a number of references on the history of PMS as a diagnostic category.

-- Nicole B. Barenbaum (nbarenba@sewanee.edu), May 07, 2001.

[Answer forwarded for RAJ by CDG.]

If the student is willing to consider _printed_ resources rather than just websites, a visit with her college/university reference librarian and some instruction in the use of the local online catalog (for monographs held in her library), and PsychInfo and MEDLINE/PubMed (for bibliographic citations to articles), will reveal a wealth of resources combining the subject heading "premenstrual syndrome" with the suheading "history" (also in combination with "psychology", "social aspects", etc.). She should also consider changes in terminology, such as the earlier "Premenstrual Tension".

-- RUSSELL A. JOHNSON (rjohnson@LIBRARY.UCLA.EDU), May 07, 2001.


Look up "Christiane Northrup" as a keyword in a search. I used the Google search engine, and came up with lots of hits. Dr. Northrup wrote the book "The Wisdom of Menopause" and has written about a lot of issues related to women's health. You may find some treatment of history. Good luck!

-- Gordon M. Redding (gredding@ilstu.edu), May 07, 2001.

I am not familiar with any specific websites, but you may want to take a look at Paula Caplan's work, particularly "They say you're crazy" (1995). Although Caplan clearly has an agenda which at times can obscur or bring into the question the merits of the scholarship, it is a very intersting account of the development of the DSM. Specific attention is given to PMDD (Prementstrual dysphoric disorder).

-- Erica Lilleleht, Seattle University (elillele@seattleu.edu), May 07, 2001.

Another possible source for you is "The sexuality debates," edited by Sheila Jeffreys. It is a compilation of primary source materials from the 1800s to 1920s. Focused on female sexuality, the collection underscores the sociopolitical impact of medical theory. It includes article by doctors and activists.

-- Erica Lilleleht, Seattle University (elillele@seattleu.edu), May 07, 2001.


I would look at sources related to the development of the DSM. The current DSM doesn't give much history, but there is usually material in the supplementary texts. DSM-IV uses the phrase 'premenstrual dysphoric disorder', which raises its own historical questions.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@fuller.edu), May 08, 2001.

Here is a reference that might help - I've just come across it in the reference list of Jill Morawski's article on Sigmund Koch that has just appeared in the May AP:

Parlee, M. B. (1994). The social construction of premenstrual syndrome: A case study of scientific discourse. In M. G. Winkler and L. B. Cole (Eds.), The good body: Asceticism in contemporary culture (pp. 91-107). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

-- Alexandra Rutherford (alexr@yorku.ca), May 09, 2001.


Rodin, M. (1992). "The Social Construction of Premenstrual Syndrome" Social Science and Medicine. 35(1) 49-56.

-- Zeev Guttman (zeevgu@actcom.co.il), April 07, 2002.

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