Introduction: During their menstrual cycles, many women of reproductive age experience adverse physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms that often recur, usually during the luteal phase of their cycle. The constellation of above symptoms is known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) if severity of symptoms is moderate to severe and premenstrual dysphoric disorder(PMDD) if severity of symptoms is greater. These symptoms have great potential to interfere with personal, social and occupational functions. Material and methods: This study was conducted among medical students in a women medical college. An awareness programme was conducted in relation to women mental health issues after which a survey was conducted using the premenstrual symptom screening tool (PSST) to screen students suffering with premenstrual symptoms. They were encouraged to write the various coping mechanisms they use to comfort themselves during this period on a separate paper. Results: A total of 635 students participated in the study, of which 177 students met the criteria for premenstrual syndrome and 88 students for premenstrual dysphoric disorder. The most common symptoms reported by the participants were anger/ irritability, tearful/ increased sensitivity and fatigue/lack of energy. Most common coping mechanism among students were sleeping, taking rest and watching movies. Conclusion: Sensitizing young medical students in this topic will help them in coping with this disorder in a more effective way and they would translate this knowledge to general public which will indirectly help many women in the society.

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