How does stress affect your menstruation?

Stress can have a huge impact on your menstruation. Studies show that when women are under stress, their menstrual cycles become longer and less regular. Stress can also cause heavier bleeding during periods or even skip periods altogether. This is due to the influence of the hormone cortisol which is released when you're under stress. Cortisol disrupts ovulation and this leads to irregular periods. As well as irregularity in terms of timing, stress can also make your period more painful, with stronger cramps than usual and more intense PMS symptoms such as mood swings and lower energy levels.
Moreover, prolonged mental or emotional distress could lead to amenorrhea (absence of menses). In other words, high levels of stress for an extended period can stop your body from producing hormones necessary for menstruation all together leading to infertility issues in some cases. Therefore it's important that you manage your stress level by incorporating activities like yoga or meditation into your daily routine if possible so that you don't have problems with excessive amounts of cortisols affecting your normal cycle patterns negatively over time!