A social construct doesn’t mean it’s not real
Our “real” experiences, symptoms, and syndromes—individually or collectively—can be mental as well as physical.
The subtext of these critiques is that PMS is “socially constructed,” meaning it’s an imaginary condition foisted on women by society, which is another way of saying PMS is “not real.” Yet just because something is a social construction does not mean we don’t experience it—it simply means that our “real” physiological symptoms can have roots in our mind as well as our body. —Frank Bures, Is PMS Real?
- see also: pms and other pathologies are culture-bound syndromes
- explore further: placebo effect