If your periods are a real pain, something else entirely could be to blame.
While there are plenty of reproductive issues that can lead to worse periods — fibroids, endometriosis, and cervical stenosis, to name a few — new research suggests that another issue could be a big reason behind menstrual woes.
The new study, published in Briefings in Bioinformatics, found a link between depression and dysmenorrhea, or menstrual pain.
“Depression and menstrual pain significantly impact women’s lives across the world, yet their connection remains poorly understood,” said lead author Dr. John Moraros, dean and professor at the School of Science at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China, according to CNN.
“Our collective goal is to critically investigate these issues and improve care for women by uncovering these complex connections and finding better ways to address them.”
While depression and period pain have been linked before, the new study suggests that depression causes period pain — not the other way around.
That’s because it comes down to our DNA: The researchers found that there are genetic pathways that allow depression to impact menstruation. In fact, people with depression were found to be 51% more likely to experience menstrual pain.
“Our findings provide preliminary evidence that depression may be a cause, rather than a consequence, of dysmenorrhea as we did not find evidence that period pain increased the risk of depression,” fellow lead author Shuhe Liu said.
The study authors also found that sleeplessness may increase the likelihood of menstrual pain even more.
Though they noted that more research is needed, they also stressed that the study offers a lesson.
“These findings highlight the importance of mental health in managing female reproductive symptoms and lay the foundation for understanding the genetic and molecular interplay between these conditions,” they said.
Previously, a 2021 published in Frontiers in Psychiatry showed that the relationship can work in the other direction, too.
They found that women with menstrual pain are “vulnerable to develop a depressive disorder, which is a common form of psycho-disturbance.”
