Women's perceptions of phenomena they label premenstrual tension: normal experiences reflecting ordinary behaviour

Remarkably little empirical knowledge exists about premenstrual tension (PMT), a construct that has been studied intensively during the last 30 years. Practically nothing is known about the perceptions women have about PMT. The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions healthy women have about PMT. Seventeen women, who had 4 years earlier participated in a concurrent diary study assessing the prevalence of PMT, were interviewed. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Four main categories describing the women's perceptions were formed: (1) individual experiences of phenomena referred to as PMT; (2) phenomena referred to as PMT reflect ordinary experiences in healthy women; (3) biopsychosocial explaining of phenomena referred to as PMT; (4) internal and external resources used to manage the variability of phenomena referred to as PMT. The content of these categories reflects the participants' perceptions of PMT as the common, normal and very variable experiences which women handle by the use of management strategies commonly used in contemporary society to deal with life in general. Experiences of women differ with respect to what they experience and the timing and persistence of those experiences. This the participants explain from a biopsychosocial perspective. It is suggested that women have adapted a medical term, PMT, to describe what they consider normal female phenomena.