Experiencing changes in menstrual cycle and its effect on women\u27s personal and romantic life

V magistrskem delu smo raziskovali doživljanje sprememb znotraj menstrualnega ciklusa in njihovih posledic na osebno in partnersko življenje mladih žensk (20–30 let). S pomočjo polstrukturiranih intervjujev smo po analizi vsebine prišli do ugotovitev, da je razpoloženje žensk v prvem delu menstrualnega cikla, torej v proliferativni fazi in ovulaciji boljše kot je v drugem delu cikla, torej v času sekretorne faze in menstruacije. Enako velja za partnerski odnos. V prvem delu cikla, posebej v proliferativni fazi, potrebujejo manj podpore partnerja in več potreb si lahko uresničijo same, oz. je teh potreb celo manj v primerjavi z drugim delom cikla. Si pa v tem času želijo precej več partnerjeve (fizične) bližine. Vse intervjuvanke so poročale, da drugi del cikla, torej sekretorna faza in menstruacija slabše vplivata na njihov partnerski odnos, saj jim telo peša, hkrati se jim znižajo spolni hormoni, kar se kaže v slabem psihičnem in fizičnem stanju, ki potem logično slabše vpliva tudi na njihov partnerski odnos. V dotičnem magistrskem delu smo po vplivu sprememb znotraj menstrualnega ciklusa na partnerski odnos spraševali zgolj ženske. Za nadaljnjo raziskavo bi bilo smiselno o vplivu omenjenih sprememb vprašati tudi njihove partnerje. Ugotovili smo tudi, da je povezovanje zgolj hormonov cikla pri ženskah – LH, FSH, estrogen in progesteron – z razpoloženjem ženske pomanjkljivo, saj imamo ljudje okoli 50 različnih hormonov, ki so med seboj vsi povezani in odvisni en od drugega.In this master thesis, we were researched how experiencing changes in menstrual cycle affects young (20–30 years old) women\u27s personal life and partnerships. With the help of semi-structured interview and with the analysis of content we found out that the women’s mood is better in the first half of the cycle e.g. in the proliferative and ovulation phase than it is in the second half of the cycle e.g. secretory phase and menstruation. We found out the same phenomenon with partnerships. In the first half of woman\u27s cycle, especially in the proliferative phase, women need less support from their partner and they are able to satisfy more of their needs alone, as they have fewer needs in comparison to the second half of the cycle. Normally, women have more needs to be physically close to their partners in the first part of the cycle. All the interviewees reported that the second half of the cycle e.g. secretory phase and menstruation have bad effect on their partnership. During this period, woman’s body is in worse state than before, since there is less secretion of their sex hormones which results in feeling worse, both physically and psychologically, which obviously negatively affects the relationship with their partners. In the thesis, we asked women how changes in menstrual cycle affect their partnerships. For further research it would make sense to ask also men how they feel that the changes in their partner’s cycle affect their relationship. We also came to a conclusion that connecting only woman\u27s cycle hormones – LH, FSH, estrogen and progesterone – to their mood is not optimal, since people have around 50 different hormones, which are all connected and interdependent