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Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation


Psychosomatic and Symbolic Aspects of Menstruation

Dr. Nelson Soucasaux, Brazilian gynecologist

Let us go to a brief analysis of some of the many psychosomatic, somatopsychic, archetypal and symbolic aspects of menstruation. Considering that this organ unique to women which is the uterus is also the only one in the human body whose physiology exhibits the characteristic of periodic bleeding, menstruation has always constituted a phenomenon of the greatest importance in woman's nature. Women experience the menstrual bleeding not only in its objective aspects (physiological and medical), but also in the subjective ones (symbolic and archetypic). To women, the occurrence of menstruations with normal characteristics within the expected periods works as a sign, though relative and of approximated value, of their physiological normality concerning the female nature. At least, it is an indication that the cyclical pattern that characterizes the woman's physiology is preserved. At the same time, for women with an active sexual life, the coming of menstruation means absence of pregnancy - at least most of the time, for, as we know, there are exceptions.

The way through which women experience the menstrual bleeding is one of the many parameters by which their pattern of relationship with the female nature can be evaluated. Considering the archetypal symbolism of blood, we can easily deduce that, for women, the constant experience of this cyclical uterine bleeding which is menstruation increases more and more their capacity of deeply experiencing the organic and visceral processes typical of the female nature - especially those related to their sexual organs and the intimacy of their pelvis.

Given the enormous emotional and archetypal importance of the genitals, bleeding originating from these organs - even physiological, as menstruation - end by acquiring a very special symbolism. Several fantasies associating blood and sexuality may arise. In this way, through the symbolism of menstruation women can somatically express many of their psycho-sexual and emotional problems. Through the psychosomatic pathways, innumerable conflicts related to women's nature can be directly or indirectly projected on the body originating the more varied menstrual alterations. On the other hand, through the somatopsychic pathways, menstrual disorders can give rise to psychological conflicts in relation to this aspect of female nature.

With some frequency, female attitudes regarding this cyclical uterine bleeding are somewhat ambiguous. For widely known reasons, the coming of the menses at the expected time is considered of great importance by almost all women. There is always a considerable preoccupation regarding the menstrual bleeding - not only in relation to the regularity of its occurrence, but also to the characteristics of the flow (volume, duration, aspect, associated signs and symptoms, etc.). Therefore, menstruation is always an event of great significance to women, being also one of the female archetypal symbols of femininity.

However, in spite of this, the menstrual bleeding in itself is frequently regarded as somewhat "uncomfortable" - even when asymptomatic and entirely normal from the medical point of view. As I always used to remark, variable degrees of resentment concerning several biological peculiarities of the female nature can be often found in many women. It is evident that, as menstruation goes along with those typical pelvic discomforts that vary from a diffuse painfulness to moderate and intense cramps, negative attitudes regarding this cyclical uterine bleeding become more frequent. These negative attitudes, in turn, establish a vicious cycle that intensifies the symptomatology.

At the somatic level we must remember that, in the absence of organic pathology, dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps) is usually due to strong uterine contractions caused by an increased production of prostaglandins in the premenstrual and menstrual endometrium, during the regression and necrosis of this tissue. Greater contractile response of the myometrium to normal levels of prostaglandins during menstruation can be found in many cases, also giving rise to dysmenorrhea. Also at the somatic level, premenstrual pelvic congestion is responsible for the diffuse pelvic painfulness and discomfort that often occurs on the days that precede the coming of menstruation.

The menstrual bleeding is always endowed with a powerful symbolic force. Because of this, as I always used to remark, women can somatically express many of their emotional problems through the symbolism of menstruation.

The text above is an excerpt from my book "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype"). More information can be found at http://www.nelsonginecologia.med.br/orgaos.htm

©Nelson Soucasaux

_____________________________________________________

Nelson Soucasaux is a gynecologist dedicated to clinical, preventive and psychosomatic gynecology. Graduated in 1974 from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he is the author of several articles published in medical journals and of the books "Novas Perspectivas em Ginecologia" ("New Perspectives in Gynecology") and "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype"), published by Imago Editora, Rio de Janeiro, 1990, 1993.

Web site: http://www.nelsonginecologia.med.br

E-mail: nelsons@nelsonginecologia.med.br

homepage | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation

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