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Periods not just impacts the bodies of women and everyone who menstruates but have a psychological impact. On World Mestrual Hygiene Day in 2025, a new report trains the spotlight on the mental toll menstruators have to carry during and around their periods.
While almost all (97 per cent) the menstruators have to make changes to their daily life during every period cycle, they are also forced to constantly monitor leaks, even when they’re supposed to be sleeping. They have to think about what to wear and how they sit or move.
Not only are these changes difficult to manage logistically, they also create psychological stress. But this mental burden is invisibilised as menstruators are expected to hide the symptoms and situations that come with periods.
The study by Mahina, a menstrual wellness organisation, conducted a survey of 1,002 women to understand how they manage the physical symptoms, emotional strain and social stigma surrounding periods.
As many as two out of three menstruators who responded to the survey said men expect them to “hide the physical and mental toll of periods”, including in close relationships.
In public and workplaces, some 62 per cent women feel the need to mask their period symptoms to appear ‘normal’, the findings showed.
This need stems from social conditioning of women, wherein they are made aware of the unspoken rules governing menstruation and conducting oneself in public during periods, the authors of the report highlighted. “The architecture of invisible weight is — built quietly, held privately.”
Periods have an overarching impact on women’s body, mind and hormones. “Nearly all menstruators endure three or more period-related side effects every cycle,” according to the report.
The survey results showed: Period cramps — the most widely known and understood symptom of periods — affected half of all the respondents; a third experience lingering fatigue and a quarter feel bloated and uncomfortable.
Only 4 per cent said they don't feel any physical strain during or around periods.
The emotional impacts were felt more uniformly, with 73 per cent saying they were “deeply impacted by periods and hormonal shifts”. Sadly, they also mentioned that they rarely talk about this impact. As many as 64 per cent feel such intense emotional impacts that they said they “feel unlike themselves during premenstrual syndrome”.
Moreover, 34 per cent women said they reduce social interaction during their periods, 35 per cent reorganise their workload and two in five women said they don't exercise at all when they are not on their periods.
The emotional fluctuation is consistent for many and may leave a devastating mark on their lives. Some 58 per cent of women interviewed said they “dread unpredictable period symptoms”.
Further, some 38 per cent respondents complained of sleep disruption to change menstrution product. Not getting enough rest during periods adds to the physical strain and psychological stress, the authors added.
The menstruation cycles also need quite a lot of preparation and planning, mostly to hide the signs of periods, the authors of the report pointed out. Women do this quietly, with 45 per cent respondents saying they change the way they dress to adjust during periods, 41 per cent avoid travelling long distances. Some three in four women said they carry emergency kits.
Finding a clean washroom on menstruation days is a challenge for four out of five respondents. As many as 54 per cent said they had to change their period products every 4-6 hours and 73 per cent found it frustrating and inconvenient.
Further, most of them said they live in constant anxiety of ‘leaking’ during their periods, leading to round-the-clock monitoring. “Among 25–30-year-olds, two in three experience increased daytime anxiety due to leak stress,” according to the report. Some 72 per cent layer up with extra protection to avoid leak.
Although 67 per cent said the leaks are due to their products, most of them reported feeling guilty for any stain, without questioning the product. Almost half the women interviewed said they carried something extra to hide a stain, not to stay warm, the report showed.
Add to this, the remorse individuals experience for contributing to the accumulation of waste due to their inevitable and natural biological process. Half of the respondents said they feel guilty about how much waste their period contributes, according to the report.
A majority of them reported using multiple products during one cycle, layering and experimenting to “stay ahead of leaks”. “Nearly 2 in 3 menstruators describe period product discovery as time-consuming and full of trial and error.”
The report also addressed the trauma of first period, revealing that four out of five repondents felt unprepared for the change. As many as 76 per cent of the people said they started “carrying the mental weight of menstruation” when they were as young as 8 years to 14 years. Some 43 per cent of the girls felt scared when they were menstruating for the first time, 46 per cent felt confused and more than half said they were anxious.
While people going through such regular and mandatory stressful experiences should be supported by society, mestruators have to deal with stigma, shame and lack of understanding from people around them.
The authors advocated for more open conversations around menstruation, so that more people understand these burdens and menstruators no longer need to hide their discomforts and stress. They called for identifying aspects that have been overlooked and shifting from “the expectation that menstruators should simply manage”.