There are plenty of things that can keep you feeling tense for days. You may be dealing with a highly tense situation — such as my interstate move or, say, a depressing or emotionally taxing holiday season. Or you could be frazzled due to a confluence of factors, such as your job, relationship, finances, and, dear God, politics, Alice Domar, a health psychologist at Inception Fertility, said.
Everyone responds to difficult situations differently. Certain individuals thrive off stress, Dr. Whitmore points out, and others are so skilled at coping with stress that something huge would need to happen for their cortisol levels to spike. “There are some people who could be stressed out of their minds and have a perfect 28-day cycle,” Dr. Domar says. “But there are probably more people who, if they’re really stressed, will have an irregular menstrual cycle.”
When should you be concerned about a delayed period?
If your period is only late a single month or two, it’s probably no biggie. Even if you’ve been stressed out for a while, your body will eventually be like, Okay, it’s time to shed the uterine lining, and you’ll get a period, says Dr. Whitmore. (In the meantime, it makes sense to take a pregnancy test to confirm that’s not the reason.)
But if your period’s past-due month after month, it’s time to investigate. You don’t want to automatically assume stress is the culprit because, according to Dr. Domar, there are many things that can delay your period — like excessive exercise, malnutrition, and hormonal birth control.
More seriously, an irregular menstrual cycle could be a sign of a growth, such as a polyp, a reproductive health condition like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or adenomyosis, or a thyroid disorder. As such, it’s important to check in with your ob-gyn if your cycle’s been off for a couple months. They can run diagnostic tests, like an ultrasound or hormone tests, to see if you have an underlying health issue.
How to prevent stress from delaying your period
While it’s impossible to avoid every stressor in your life (wouldn’t that be nice!), there’s a lot you can do to manage how you respond to stress. And that, in turn, can minimise the impact that cortisol has on your cycle. With that said, here are a few simple tactics that may help keep your stress levels in check (or, at the very least, not chaotically high):
Schedule time for hobbies that make you happy.
Dr. Whitmore regularly coaches her patients to think about what brings them joy in life. Is it going hiking, dancing, walking your dog, doing arts and crafts, or reading a good book? You need to have fun, Dr. Domar says, and not just exercise, go to work, and grab drinks with friends.
Studies have found that people with hobbies generally have lower rates of depression along with greater health, happiness, and life satisfaction. And research suggests that doing a hobby, such as an art project, dramatically lowers cortisol levels. I’ll admit — when I was moving, the first thing I gave up was my hobbies, mainly because I just didn’t have the time. I usually read in bed every night, but instead I worked on my to-do list until I could no longer keep my eyes open.
