Science has found out how period pain affects women in the workplace — here’s why it’s so important

Having a period feels like a blessing wrapped in a huge gross cloth that makes you feel itchy and uncomfortable. We can make new life but it comes with an added (mostly unwanted) bonus of bleeding once a month. So be a little kinder to the women in your life — chances are they menstruating and dealing with a lot. Especially during work. A survey has found out how period pain affects women in the workplace and the results are not that surprising.

According to the BBC survey results, more than half of the women said that they have had periods affect their work life. For good reason! Women experience cramps, bloating, irritability and a variety of other symptoms.

But the survey also revealed that some women actually performed better.

Sometimes we can focus more on our tasks because of the hormonal influx of estrogen at the start of your period — estrogen can make you happier. Obviously this isn’t true for all women. Sometimes periods means crippling cramps that make it hard to do anything.

Because of the chemicals acting on our brains every month, some women feel the most sharp the week before they get their periods. Some have the opposite effect. All you can really do, is try to manage your cycle.

That means tracking your emotional and physical state every month. You’ll learn to predict your moods and how your body will react to things. That way, when “that time of the month” rolls around, there are no surprises!