By Denada Kuka

Why is it that physical pain is universally accepted as a reason to miss work, but period pain and mental health is not? Doesn’t period pain fall under physical pains? Menstrual symptoms leave you unable to perform at full potential; cramps make it hard to get through the day, let alone produce work.

As people who menstruate, we hide the fact we are on our period. We treat it as abnormal because of the way others view it and the way periods are dismissed and negatively stigmatised. We often make an excuse rather than telling the truth because we fear not being heard even though missing work due to periods is more than reasonable. 

Personally, I have very heavy periods. Because of this, I have to cancel plans and layer up my products in order to not leak – this is a struggle I face every month. The thought of leaking through my clothes during university stresses me out when, in reality, I should be able to take a few days off. We all should, whether it’s due to pain, flow or just the mental state that periods put us through.

We wouldn’t think twice about missing work and events in general when it comes to the flu or other physical discomfort, so why do we overextend ourselves when it comes to our periods? People who menstruate deserve and quite simply should take time off when they are on their periods as they are a normal and natural thing we cannot control. The shame around periods just pressures us into pushing through the day rather than resting. 

We need compassion and educated support from people in the workplace to allow us to speak without shame about this and allow us time off. Mental health is also a big one that people talk about more, but it seems like there’s not much done. Everyone has off days, everyone has days where the thought of getting out of bed is painful and yet we all disservice ourselves and others by trying to seem okay and go to work. 

All of us have had mental health struggles, and yet there’s not enough understanding. Why is that? Why shouldn’t we all take a day off when we are struggling mentally so we can reach our potential the next time we go to work. Instead, we burn ourselves out because the concept of taking days off due to mental health is taboo. 

We have been told from childhood that we can only get days off due to physical pain, but what about emotional pain? It hurts just as much, if not more. This has led us as a society to believe and internalise that mental health isn’t important. Mental health and emotional pain take longer to heal and take up more space in our minds than physical pain does. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. 

As a society, we all go through the same things, we all feel, and we all deal with it differently. Some of us can’t escape it and it affects us daily to the point where we can’t do simple things. We all need to educate ourselves and show more empathy and compassion despite not being able to relate. 

We should allow women and people who have hard days to take some time off. Through this, we will be able to be more honest, authentic and simply human.