I cannot believe a judge let that woman off! PMS shouldn't be used as an excuse to shoplift, harm or murder others (yes, women have received kinder punishment after saying PMS made her commit the crime.) The fact that judges buy the load of crap is beyond me .

I understand when PMS really does cause temper tantrums, random fits of crying, bloating and severe cramping however causing her to shoplift is not one of the symptoms.

PMS can seriously suck!!! However One does have to try to deal with it somehow. There is a point where it is diagnosed in the DSM as a psychiatric disorder and can be treated. I have had a few clients who are diagnosed and take psychotropic medications for it as well as charting the days, raised awareness and planning for them, their families and friends.

i have major pms the week before my period and the first few days...i get cramps and menstrual migraines and sleep constantly and not to mention i gain like 5 to 10 lbs of water weight. but i would never ever shoplift lol and if i did i would not blame it on pms...what an idiot

we are unique beings therefore we have different ways in dealing with our PMS... shoplifting is not an excuse.. our behavior sometimes change because of physiological changes that is happening to our body during this period.. so maybe we just have to understand them when they are having temper tantrums etc.

PMS isn't a "myth" at all - it's a very real issue related to hormonal changes. Now, does this mean women should get a pass for breaking the law because of PMS? In the vast majority of cases, no. Generally, a woman can be familiar enough with her cycles to (1) know when her period is due and (2) know how she reacts to it.

For me, PMS usually takes the form of a rage - wherein I overreact to things (sometimes getting so angry that I actually have a blackout on what I said or to whom - no alcohol or drugs involved) or break down into sobs at the drop of the proverbial hat. But the fact that those problems crop up only when I'm having PMS doesn't mean I don't have to accept the consequences of losing control, and - even more so - the fact that I can anticipate them means it's my responsibility to take whatever steps I can to minimize any outbursts or damage resulting from them.

Some women do suffer from an extreme form of PMS called "PreMenstrual Dysphoric Disorder" which can cross over into a full-blown psychosis pretty easily. In some ways, the difference between PMS and PMDD is similar to the difference between Postpartum Depression (aka "the baby blues") and Postpartum Psychosis (aka Andrea Yates.) When one is suffering from a psychosis, in general, the person either doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, or - at the very least - knows the difference, but truly believes that he or she acted properly.

I mentioned Andrea Yates because her case is one of the best known postpartum psychosis cases around. After she killed her children, she made NO effort to hide what she had done. She, apparently, quite sincerely believed that Satan had some kind of power over her (not like possession, but more an extreme level of control)and that if she allowed her children to live, he would corrupt them and they would be condemned to hell. After killing her children, she called her husband and she called the cops to report what she'd done. So, she clearly knew that by human standards, what she'd done was wrong, but her psychotic belief in Satan's hold on her compelled her to murder anyway.

Now, even though I see a distinction between PMS and PMDD (and between Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis) doesn't mean I think people who have committed wrongful acts while undergoing a psychotic episode should just be set free. I don't consider them to be quite as criminally responsible for their actions as I do people who aren't dealing with a psychotic episode, but I do think they should be sent to a mental institution for roughly as long as their jail sentence would likely have been, and during that time, they should receive treatment for whatever caused their psychotic episode and learn what they can do - be it taking and staying on meds, or techniques to recognize when such an episode might occur and how to let those around you know that you believe you're heading into a dangerous period and ask them to help you keep from harming yourself or anyone else.

Back to the shoplifting lady, though - shoplifting is *not* the kind of thing you'd expect for someone undergoing a psychotic episode to do, and if she took steps to try and cover up her crime or otherwise showed any kind of a "consciousness of guilt" then her PMS defense is bogus and she should be treated like any other criminal.

Wow!

PMS is real but excusing a crime because of it is just ridiculous. Where does accountability come into play? Maybe the judge has a disorder.