The menstrual cycle as a subject of psychoanalytic inquiry.

Since the pioneering studies of Benedek and Rubenstein (1939) psychoanalytic literature has ignored the impact of the menstrual cycle on a woman's psyche. This avoidance is based in sexism and concern over the ways in which the hormonal body has been used to support a negative view of women. It is clear that the impact of the hormonal body on the psyche is an important and relevant topic for psychoanalytic inquiry. Many women experience several different self-states during the course of their menstrual cycle. Clinicians should ask questions about menstrual experience to help patients contact, articulate, and give credence to all aspects of the self.