After learning that she needed to recall the first day of her last period to get treated for an ear infection, local woman Hannah Schnitt had no choice but to seek out hypnosis that would allow her to access the distant and buried memory of when that was.
“It’s got to be somewhere in my subconscious,” said Schnitt, whose cycle is, she thinks, like five-ish weeks, or maybe not. “I used to use a tracking app but then my free trial ran out. Maybe I wrote it down somewhere?”
Despite menstruating regularly for nearly two decades, Schnitt is among the vast majority of women who only realize their period is about to start when a rash or hormonal acne takes over their foreheads, and who forget about it the moment it ends.
“Does anyone have that information handy?” asked another woman, Harper Franklin, who actually is a doctor. “I went to med school and I’m still not sure why we need to know. Most of my patients are just guessing anyway.”
To find out when her most recent menses was, Schnitt sought out the help of licensed hypnotherapist, Ayana Mann.
“Hypnotic regression is about helping the client relax and enter a deep, meditative state where subconscious thoughts and memories can be accessed,” said Mann. “While many people are trying to resolve past traumas and childhood experiences, I’d say about half my practice is women trying to remember the date of their last period.”
It took three sessions, but Schnitt was able to recall her junior high locker combination, her first boyfriend’s dog’s name, and finally, the date of her last period (February 12).
Given that Mann is out of network, the experience cost Schnitt nearly half that month’s rent.
She said her time on Mann’s couch was “spiritual, tranquil and cathartic,” and she plumbed the deep recesses of her memory to align seeing that spot of red in her panties with what was happening on The Masked Singer, which is how she keeps track of what day it is.
“Honestly, it was a lot of work, but I guess it’s worth it if it helps clear up this ear thing.”
At press time, Schnitt was visiting a medium to try and connect to her deceased mother to ask if that side of the family had a history of colon cancers, and also to remind her if she had ever had an allergic reaction to a medication.
