There's really nothing worse than bad period cramps, with the shooting pains, sore back and tiredness that come with them.

Typically when we're enduring this, all we want to do is curl up on the couch watching crappy reality TV while we eat our body weight in chocolate. While some people's periods are worse than others, there is one thing that we have in common – the stress. According to a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health, there is a link between how bad our period is and the level of stress we're experiencing. Women who are dealing with stress in the lead up to their period can experience more pain compared to those with no stress. [caption id="attachment_586023" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Credit: Getty[/caption] The study revealed that four times as many women who were stressed said their period pain was moderate to severe. The team said: "Each woman is an individual, and some women may experience severe symptoms that require medications. "However, future studies may show that stress reduction techniques can prevent or reduce the severity of premenstrual syndrome, which might provide a cost effective alternative to medications for some women." Experts have said that practising mindfulness, yoga and exercising can all help relieve stress – and therefore relieve our period pain.

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