When a woman misses her period, most of the time she puts it down to some minor problem, but when it starts to get assigned labels such as PCOD, PCOS, and now more recently PMOS, the way that women look at their bodies begins to change.
What may have been treated as a medical condition can also become a person’s emotional identity. A visit to the doctor, a blood test, or even just Googling at midnight can suddenly introduce a woman into a world filled with hormone-balancing regimens and checklists for symptoms, infertility anxiety, and endless wellness recommendations. The plethora of these conditions offers not only physiological ramifications, but also a huge psychosocial component.
There are many longstanding conditions associated with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and PCOD (Polycystic Ovarian Disease), and considerable change in the way we discuss PCOS/PCOD over the past decades. But none more significant than population estimates, with current evidence that 12.1% of women diagnosed by the Rotterdam criteria for diagnosis are afflicted by PCOS (Neven et al., 2024). Additionally, even higher rates of prevalence for PCOS have been found in women of South-Eastern Asian heritage.
Read More: PCOS Renamed as PMOS in Major Global Shift in Women’s Health Terminology
The Psychology of a Diagnosis
Medical labels are designed to clarify medical conditions, but these labels also affect how individuals view themselves. After a diagnosis of PCOS or PCOD, a lot of women will start filtering experiences through their diagnoses. For example, feeling tired becomes attributed to their hormones, being moody becomes attributed to their PCOS, and weight changes are often perceived as permanent rather than temporary.
The psychological effects of diagnosis will become compounded by the fact that many of the symptoms associated with PCOS/PCOD affect physical attributes typically associated with being female (e.g., skin condition, hair condition, weight, menstrual cycle). In cultures where women’s appearance and ability to give birth continue to be significant factors in what women experience. The result is that women with these diagnoses may feel negatively about their bodies and have lower self-esteem.
Studies have shown that women with PCOS have higher rates of anxiety and depression than women without the diagnosis (Standeven et al., 2024). Therefore, the diagnosis of PCOS/PCOD hurts both the emotional and physical health of women diagnosed with these conditions.
The Confusion of Medical Language
Hormonal disorders can be quite confusing. The terms used to describe PCOD and PCOS have many similarities, and many people often mistakenly refer to them as the same. There are also new terms (PHOS, for example) that continue to pop up in the media, which creates additional confusion. Depending on the physician you speak to, they may describe PCOD as manageable or may suggest that PCOS will be a lifelong, chronic, and severe condition.
Because of social media’s ability to spread these conflicting perspectives very quickly, many young females become obsessive about investigating their symptoms or checking their bodies for indications of bodily imbalances (bloating, fatigue, or stress), and they begin to wonder if they have a legitimate medical reason to feel this way. Psychologists call this phenomenon “health hypervigilance,” or paying too much attention to how one feels in relation to their body, which increases anxiety and psychological distress.
Social Media and Hormonal Identity
Online platforms have changed how people perceive conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). They have given rise to an entirely new way for women to identify with PCOS through “PCOS journeys,” balancing hormones through a strict diet and restricting foods, as well as keeping track of their symptoms. Although this type of visibility helps some women relate to one another. It can also amplify feelings of stress and anxiety.
A lot of the content shared via the platforms’ various algorithms rewards fear-driven content and causes women to see their hormones as constantly concerning. Continued exposure to fear-driven content can create a heightened sense of awareness of one’s body, causing women to perceive typical changes in their bodies as sources of stress, and the body becomes something that must be constantly monitored and “fixed.” There is, however, a dark side to visibility, too. Social media platforms tend to prioritise emotionally charged content.
Fear travels faster than any other emotion. Social media has also popularised self-diagnosing. Today, numerous young women refer to themselves as having PCOS or hormonal problems after seeing reels about symptoms that relate to bloating, acne, tiredness, or sudden weight gain. These videos tend to make people think that any normal fluctuation in the body is due to hormonal changes. It tends to increase anxiety and dependence on non-verifiable solutions like strict diets or hormone-healing diets. In the process, health becomes less about care and more about constant self-correction.
The Medicalisation of Womanhood
In today’s culture of wellness, the modern woman is encouraged to maintain her body through diet, food for hormonal balance, supplements, cleansing, and self-optimisation. In fact, there are many ways in which one may improve oneself. However, always having oneself fixed may exhaust one. In the 2023 International Evidence-Based Guidelines for PCOS, the authors identified three major themes: “Delayed Diagnosis”. It indicates that the diagnosis of PCOS (and PCOD) is very often delayed (ASRM, 2023). Resulting in many women being medically treated but not emotionally supported.
Paradoxically, while PCOS and PCOD are today regarded as common disorders. This makes the anguish experienced by women with either of these disorders even more ignored. Consequently, women suffering from PCOS and PCOD often feel abandoned and misunderstood because of the lack of familiarity with these diseases.
Read More: What Made Self-Objectification A Common Part Of Womanhood
Beyond the Label
While many people experience fear due to the symptoms related to PCOS or PCOD. This fear goes beyond just the symptomatology. Women also have fears regarding body image, the ability to conceive children, partner relationships, and a sense of disconnection from their bodies. Therefore, many women look for both medical treatment and emotional support in the form of understanding.
Although medical terms are an important part of correctly diagnosing and raising awareness about a condition, they, too, have an emotional component to them. A woman’s emotional response often depends on how her diagnosis is communicated.
A diagnosis needs to provide women with the ability to understand their health issues. But should not leave them feeling that they are hopelessly flawed. Because sometimes the heaviest part of the diagnosis is not the actual syndrome. But the emotional baggage that comes with the syndrome name.
References +
Kitzinger, C., & Willmott, J. (2002). “The thief of womanhood”: women’s experience of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Social Science & Medicine, 54(3), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(01)00034-x
Moran, L. J., Hutchison, S. K., Norman, R. J., & Teede, H. J. (2011). Lifestyle changes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd007506.pub2
Neven, A. C. H., Forslund, M., Ranasinha, S., Sethi, P., Dhungana, R. R., Mousa, A., Tay, C. T., Teede, H., & Boyle, J. A. (2026). Prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome: a global and regional systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Reproduction Update, dmaf030. https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmaf030
Standeven, L. R., Ho, A., & Liisa Hantsoo. (2024). Bridging the Gap: Integrating Awareness of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Into Mental Health Practice. Focus/Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing. Online), 22(1), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20230024
Starcevic, V., & Berle, D. (2013). Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related Internet use. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 13(2), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.12.162
Teede, H. J., Tay, C. T., Laven, J. J. E., Dokras, A., Moran, L. J., Piltonen, T. T., Costello, M. F., Boivin, J., Redman, L. M., Boyle, J. A., Norman, R. J., Mousa, A., & Joham, A. E. (2023). Recommendations From the 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline for the Assessment and Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 108(10), 2447–2469. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad463
World Health Organisation. (2025). Polycystic ovary syndrome. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/polycystic-ovary-syndrome
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