Each month, over 1.8 billion people menstruate. Yet despite how common this experience is, most systems continue to ignore how hormonal shifts shape women’s mood, confidence, focus and emotional resilience. 

To change that, ILIK – The 4 Seasons of You™ conducted research with the help of a researcher on the lived experiences of 50 women aged 18 to 37. Through in-depth interviews, we explored how women navigate the emotional, social and mental health effects of their menstrual cycle.

Gentle Reminder: If these stories don’t reflect your experience, that’s okay. Every woman’s cycle is different and every experience is valid. Talking openly about hormones doesn’t make women weaker in anyway. Instead, this reveals how much women have carried on, performed and led while navigating pain and invisible pressure.

Across all interviews, one message stood out: each woman’s experience is different. However, many women described how each phase came with its own version of themselves. Yet these changes were often mislabeled as mood swings, instability or weakness, especially in professional environments.

How Hormones Impact Mental Well-being

Understanding the Cycle as a Biopsychosocial Experience

Most traditional health models focus on physical symptoms, but they often miss the full picture. That’s why this research applied the biopsychosocial model: a framework that considers how biological, psychological, and social factors interact and influence health. Originally introduced by Dr. George Engel in 1977, the model was designed to humanize medicine by recognizing people’s lived experiences, not just their biology. 

In our study, we applied it to menstrual and mental well-being. Instead of treating the cycle as something to be controlled or corrected, this model helped us understand the whole menstruating person, their body, their emotions and the social world they navigate.

Every woman in the study described how hormonal changes affected not only their body, but also their mood, confidence, relationships and career. Yet, these experiences are still dismissed from most systems designed to support women’s health and productivity. As it turns out, the menstrual cycle is a perfect example of a biopsychosocial process: a normal physiological rhythm that both affects and is affected by behavior, stress and environment. By applying this model, we were able to explore the full reality of the menstrual experience, without focusing not only on hormones or emotions.

Mental clarity and motivation change across the cycle

Most participants who were not on hormonal contraceptives shared that their focus, energy and mood followed repeated monthly changes. During the follicular and ovulatory phases, they often felt more outgoing and socially confident. In contrast, the luteal and menstruation phases brought irritability, emotional sensitivity and difficulty concentrating. These cyclical patterns linked to natural hormonal shifts that many had only begun to notice once they started tracking or living without the pill.

In contrast, many participants who were on hormonal birth control reported feeling emotionally stable, with less changes in focus, mood or motivation. While the pill provided consistency and relief for some symptoms, others described it as “flattening” their emotional range. Without the natural rise and fall of hormones, they found it harder to recognize phase-based changes or sometimes didn’t notice any at all.

Mood swings were often misunderstood

Many women shared that during the second half of their cycle, particularly the luteal phase, they experienced increased irritability, emotional sensitivity, lower tolerance for pressure or a stronger need for rest. These shifts are normal responses to hormonal changes, not signs of instability.

However, in professional or social settings, these patterns are often labeled as being “too emotional or sensitive. This lack of understanding doesn’t just silence women, it discourages them from tuning into their needs. Over time, many learned to hide how they felt, just to maintain a sense of credibility.

Understanding the cycle improves emotional regulation

Many women shared that once they began tracking their natural rhythm (or after stopping hormonal birth control), they started to notice clear emotional patterns. With this awareness, they were able to better anticipate their triggers, plan around energy dips and respond to their needs with more self-compassion.

Instead of pushing through every phase the same way, they adjusted. In the luteal phase, where overwhelm and self-doubt were more common, women who were cycle-aware chose to slow down, focus on easy tasks or simply allow more space to rest. By aligning their routines with their cycle, productivity wasn’t lost, it was restructured to meet their personal hormonal rhythm.

Stress and Mental Health Can Disrupt the Cycle

Several women shared that during high-stress periods, especially when facing burnout, depression or disordered eating, their menstrual cycle became irregular or disappeared entirely.This highlighted something often overlooked: hormones don’t just affect mental health, mental health affects hormones, too. The cycle is responsive to the environment, when the body feels unsafe or overwhelmed, it deprioritizes menstruation altogether. For many, losing their period became a wake-up call of hormonal imbalance.

 What Women Shared About Emotional Impact of Birth Control

Hormonal birth control is a valid choice for many. Yet the study found that a large portion of participants felt emotionally numb or disconnected while on the pill. Several women described a profound emotional reawakening when they stopped taking hormonal contraceptives. They began noticing emotional waves, desire, clarity and even intuition they hadn’t felt in years.

Feeling Flat Emotionally

Multiple women described feeling emotionally muted or flat while on hormonal birth control. While they experienced fewer highs and lows, they also felt a loss of emotional depth.

Suppressed Libido and Identity Shifts

One woman reflected that after 10 years on the pill, she only realized how much it had dulled her libido and emotional range after stopping. She described it as a return to her more authentic self.

Self Rediscovery Post-Pill

Several participants said they felt more in tune with their emotional and physical selves after coming off hormonal contraceptives. They noticed things like energy shifts, emotional intuition, and mood changes that had previously been dulled.

The Pill Became a Standard to Fit In

Especially in the younger age group, women felt pressure to take the pill simply because everyone else did. Not doing so felt like going against what was expected.

Emotional Disconnection 

While some women appreciated the convenience of cycle control and reduced pain, they also acknowledged the cost was a kind of internal numbness or reduced sensitivity.

The research findings show a clear theme: While hormonal contraceptives are effective physically, they can also create emotional disconnection for many women. This does not invalidate their use, but emphasizes the need for more transparent education about their potential impact on mental well-being and self–awareness.

Women Still Feel Shame at Work

Nearly all participants said they rarely talked about their cycle in professional spaces. They feared being perceived as weak, dramatic or unreliable.

This silence not only creates emotional isolation, it also prevents women from planning their work around their cycle for maximum productivity.

The workplace remains one of the final frontiers for menstrual equity. Despite the growing awareness around mental health, most companies still do not acknowledge hormonal cycles as a legitimate factor in workflow, team dynamics or stress management. In fact, a couple of women shared that requests, like needing to work remotely during painful periods, sometimes were met with refusal. Others said they’d never even considered asking for flexibility, because of the deep-rooted fear of being labeled as ‘unprofessional’.

This lack of openness feeds a damaging cycle of silence, shame and suppression. Therefore, forcing women to mask their symptoms and push through at the cost of their well-being.

In contrast, few participants shared how they were able to better express their needs to partners, family members and coworkers. Some even used the cycle knowledge to make career or life decisions, like scheduling important tasks, interviews or launches around their high-energy phases. This level of literacy also helps with communication.

It’s about time to recognize the cyclical nature of women as a realistic productivity model. This means rethinking how we schedule tasks, meetings, evaluate performance and structure workplace culture. Today, hormone-aware leadership isn’t just inclusive, it’s smart. This starts with giving women the space and safety to acknowledge their needs without shame for better well-being and work efficiency.

Awareness Grows With Age

Through analyzing responses across the three age groups (18–23, 24–29, 30–37), a clear theme was noticed: hormonal awareness increases with age, often through trial, error and burnout.

Women in their early twenties described relying on the pill, feeling disconnected from their emotions or unsure of what their natural cycle even looked like. However, by their late twenties, many started questioning their wellness choices, shifting toward natural methods, and seeking out deeper emotional connection. In their thirties, women spoke more confidently about their needs and limits, but wished they’d learned this sooner.

This speaks to a bigger problem: the lack of early, holistic education around hormonal health and how it impacts other aspects of life. Cycle syncing should not be something women discover after struggling. It should be part of how we learn to take care of ourselves from the start.

Women are seeking answers not labels

Across age groups, participants shared that they’d long felt something was wrong about how their emotions, energy and mental clarity changed throughout the month. But instead of being offered understanding, they were often given silence, judgement or hormonal suppression.

When women learn to recognize and work with their hormonal cycle, they stop fighting themselves and start leading themselves. What once felt like emotional chaos becomes emotional intelligence. What once felt like inconsistency becomes a rhythm.

Women aren’t broken. They’re biologically brilliant. They’re learning to track, learn and make better decisions. They’re realizing their emotional waves are signs, not drama. Most of all, they’re ready for a system that acknowledges their needs and meets them where they are.

Surprisingly, the future of wellness isn’t gender-neutral, it’s hormone-aware and emotionally intelligent. Cycle syncing isn’t some new trend. It’s the missing piece of guidance women were never properly taught in school, one that helps us live with less burnout, more clarity and deeper self-compassion. Want to learn how to sync your routine with your cycle? Explore our Cycle Syncing planner here.