Can psychological stress cause delayed menstruation?

In the past five years of doing women's health science, I have been asked this question no less than a hundred times. The answer is most likely yes, but individual differences are huge, and it is impossible to draw an absolute conclusion.

Last year, I received a private message from a senior girl. During the two months of postgraduate entrance examination, she spent every day in the study room, drank coffee instead of water, and memorized big political topics before going to bed. She often broke down and cried while studying. After crying, she wiped her face and continued studying. Her aunt before was so sure that she could get stuck. She was calculating whether to wear sanitary napkins that day, but she had to wait 12 days before her aunt came to see her after the exam. She went to the hospital for an ultrasound and six hormone tests. There were no organic problems at all. The doctor directly told her to go back and relax and have fun. It was just stress. Speaking of which, the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis that regulates menstruation is really very sensitive. It is like a little signal station that cannot be frightened. It usually sends out instructions step by step to make the ovaries ovulate on time and the endometrium to shed regularly, so the aunt naturally does it on time. But once a person is in a state of high pressure and anxiety for a long time, the brain will assume that you are in a stress state of "prioritizing life-saving" and will automatically shift resources to the system that copes with stress. The signals to the reproductive system will be disordered. Once ovulation is delayed, the aunt will naturally be delayed.

But not everyone suffers from stress. I have a friend who works in an investment bank. He worked on three IPO projects last year. He only slept four or five hours a day for four months in a row. He was rushing to report and even forgot his birthday. My aunt still came on time every month without any trouble. When she went for a physical check-up, her hormone levels were all within the optimal range. The doctor said that she was born with high nerve tolerance. This signal station has extremely strong anti-interference ability and ordinary pressure cannot shake it.

However, a warning should be sounded here. Don’t rely solely on stress when your menstrual period is delayed, and instead ignore other problems. If you have had sex without contraceptive measures, if you postpone it for more than 7 days, you should first take a pregnancy test to rule out the possibility of pregnancy. ； If there is a delay of more than a week for two or three consecutive months, accompanied by acne, weight gain, and heavier hair, it is best to check for organic problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome and thyroid dysfunction, and do not delay intervention. I have also met many girls who originally postponed their appointment for three or four days because of stress, but ended up reading posts every day to worry about it. The longer they waited, the more anxious they became, which added new stress to the body. It took more than 20 days to come. It was really unnecessary. Occasionally, if there is a postponement and there is no other discomfort, when it is time to eat and sleep, take time to take a walk and soak your feet to relax, and many times my aunt will come quietly.