ABOUT MARRIAGE: WOMEN’S PROBLEMS
It is worth briefly mentioning some of the obvious things right now. Women tend to have their ups and downs which are related closely with the menstrual cycle. This is a well-known fact.
Husbands, particularly in newly established family units, should consider this fact of life. If your loving wife seems a little nervy, irritable or downright cranky at certain times of the month, don’t be too ready to condemn and criticize. If she doesn’t jump to life with unbounded enthusiasm at some new idea, or scheme you promote, or show excitement at the announcement of promotion you’ve achieved the instant you talk about it, do not fret and fume and think she is unappreciative or insensitive.
The hormonal changes that regularly occur during the twenty-five to thirty-day cycle in women can produce enormous psychological changes. That is why many women go through times of abject misery and deep depression. This is most likely in the week preceding the onset of menstruation, when profound hormonal changes occur. During this time the female ovary produces excessive amounts of a chemical called progesterone, which is aimed at making the uterus ready for pregnancy. But apart from this, it has other unrelated effects. A common one is to produce fluid retention. In turn, this can often give rise to marked emotional variations in mood, attitudes and demeanour.
This sometimes means that the little lady will no longer be the ever-loving companion of last week. Instead (at worst) a cranky, bad-tempered, irritable, picking “fishwife” may appear. Everything you do is wrong. You can’t put your foot right. You are miserable, unkind, thoughtless, rude, and so on and so on.
I can assure you that this is usually short-lived. When it occurs in a normally happy, contented woman, as soon as the menstrual flow starts, and the hormone level reduces, she is back to her amiable self once again. It all sounds a bit strange, I know, but once more, this is a fact of life, and it is well worth knowing that it might happen. Great numbers of women are affected in this manner. Some are only mildly involved. In others, it is far more severe. They all vary in extent and degree.
Try not to get too downhearted, for tomorrow is another day. When “that terrible time of the month” is over, they are invariably as nice and friendly and kind and lovable as ever. Often they are better than ever. Frequently they are unaware of the way they have been behaving. Some are, and regret it immensely. Others simply forget, until the next round occurs.
Fortunately, these days, it is not necessary for women so afflicted to have to put up with this indefinitely. Many simple lines of therapy are available which can vitally and beneficially affect such women.
Establishing a new home involves the close co-operation of two people, co-operation in its complete meaning. It covers the side of marriage wherein the financial aspects must be taken care of. It affects the physical, intimate side of marriage, which includes sex, making love, intercourse, and the areas of marriage that may be referred to as the psycho-social side.
Sex forms a very important part of married life. Indeed, were it not for this, one wonders if marriages would occur. But seeing it is with us, and looks like being here for a long, long time, it may be accepted as being an integral, often overwhelming part of the marital situation.
More will be said about this later on. But it is mentioned here for completeness. Just as the couple may learn to give and take in respect to the setting up of their home, delineating their duties, adjusting to each other’s temperaments and mood changes, so giving and taking and sharing is vital to success in the sex part of marriage also.
*10/76/5*
