Mia

Brief Outline:

Mia is 14. She started her periods on a school residential but her mum had anticipated this and packed supplies and her friends supported her. She has mild cramps, but they don’t stop her doing anything. She has noticed that continuing playing sport makes her feel better when she has her period. She thinks being taught about the different range of experiences including impact or severity of period pain or the time when periods can start would be helpful for young people.

Mia knows her period is coming because she gets angry more quickly. She and her friends have learned to recognise this pattern and joke about it together.

OK. And you used the word ‘tension’, which is really... so, is it something that kinda adds stress or... or...?

It’s just sort of like we... we always just have very short... like me and my friend, we just get angry at each other quicklier, and like quicker, and like, yeah, we just get angrier quicker.

OK. And is that something that changes with your periods?

Yeah.

Yeah, OK. So, there’s the pain aspect and there’s the bleeding aspect, but are you noticing that there’s a bit of a mood and emotions aspect as well?

Yeah.

Yeah? Can you tell me a bit about how that kinda impacts on you?

We just... It’s like, I can tell I’m gonna get my period ’cause I’m just like... and my like tether’s way more short. I’ll just get angry at like things I wouldn’t normally get angry at, and things that like don’t really matter and they’re not that important, and I’ll snap at people.

OK. And that happens a bit in your friendship group as well?

Yes.

And when that’s happening in your friends, what do you say to each other? How do you kind of work that out?

Well, we just like joke... joke about it and, like, we’re like: “Calm down.”