Ariel, 12 July 2022
"Why can't an adult manage their own emotions?"
"Why is she acting like this? It's not that serious, right?"
"It can't be fake, right? I don't see others having it this bad."
Every woman experiences various discomforts and emotional changes during her menstrual cycle. In life, these common emotional changes seen in women during their menstrual period are generally manifestations of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).
However, there is a group of people who are trapped in emotional troubles more extreme than PMS, which is Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Women suffering from PMDD find it extremely difficult to control their emotional fluctuations, and it can be said that they are unable to overcome these difficulties on their own.
Edwin Raffi, a psychiatrist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women's Mental Health, described PMDD as:
"A state of agitation and fury, in the most extreme cases, has a devastating impact on a person's psyche, and can even lead to a severity that makes one give up on life."
Unfortunately, these individuals often do not know they have an endocrine disorder and are misunderstood as being "overly dramatic" or "overthinking", and they also blame themselves for their "dark" and "irritable" emotions. Those who have delayed treatment are shrouded in the shadow of negative emotions for a long time, unable to live, socialize normally, develop intimate relationships, and even lose their precious lives.
A woman suffering from PMDD, Kate, shared in the article:
"I have suffered from premenstrual anxiety since I was 13, but it was not diagnosed until I was 27. For over a decade, I was diagnosed with depression, in and out of the community mental health department."
What is Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)?
Unlike PMS, PMDD involves more psychological symptoms, such as anger, irritability, anxiety, tension, sadness, fatigue, etc. A patient mentioned in her narrative:
"In the days before each cycle, I feel a strong suicidal depression, which disappears when I start my period. I also experience acute fatigue and extreme anxiety."
However, it is worth noting that PMDD is different from depression; it is not a variant of depression, depressive mood, or anxiety is not its most typical feature. Additionally, Susan Girdler, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, also said:
"Depression and premenstrual anxiety have different biological responses to stress and mechanisms for pain sensitivity and pain. This is the most compelling evidence distinguishing PMDD from depression."
The specific cause of PMDD is still unclear, but it is currently speculated to be caused by changes in levels of estrogen, progesterone, or serotonin. PMDD generally occurs after ovulation in women. Besides the psychological symptoms mentioned earlier, PMDD can also cause physical discomfort in women, including headaches, abdominal bloating, decreased libido, etc.
Symptoms of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Physical Symptoms
Swelling of hands and feet
Breast pain
Difficulty breathing
Allergies
Eye discomfort
Abdominal pain and bloating
Constipation
Nausea and vomiting
Pelvic discomfort
Back pain
Acne
Headache
Palpitations
Psychological Symptoms
How to know if you have PMDD?
PMDD is not a common disease, affecting only 3% to 8% of women worldwide. Therefore, this small group of women often knows nothing about their condition. They or those around them might simply think it's an emotional issue.
Lacking professional advice and treatment, they can only continue to motivate themselves, and others often hope to unravel the knots in their hearts through simple persuasion, but the results are often unsatisfactory.
So how do you know if you have PMDD? What should you do if you really have PMDD?
When we realize we have emotional problems, we must pay attention to the impact of emotions on us! You can actively use a calendar to record the days when you are emotionally down and see if these symptoms appear after ovulation and compare them with the symptoms of PMDD to see how many symptoms you match.
If you have five or more symptoms, it is highly likely to be PMDD, and you should seek professional treatment at a hospital promptly. Also, when emotions have already affected your life, work, and social interactions, it's time to visit a hospital for diagnosis, as these are signs of health "red flags."
In facing PMDD, doctors usually offer the following suggestions:
① Changes in lifestyle/habits: Improve sleep patterns, supplement nutrition, and enhance exercise;
② Use medication to alleviate or treat: For example, hormonal contraceptives that reduce hormone fluctuations or antidepressants that regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Menstruation is a physiological phenomenon unique to women, but due to cultural taboos and other reasons, discussions about menstruation are not abundant, thus accompanying a series of topics lack the attention they deserve.
Sometimes our poor mood is caused by the silent changes in chemicals in our body, requiring us to actively understand our body and emotions, thereby achieving early treatment and relief. Therefore, all women should love, care for, and understand themselves to stay away from diseases and discomfort.
In life, Calmfident hopes more and more people will pay attention to those suffering from PMDD, take their pain seriously, actively help them through this difficult period, and achieve happiness and comfort. At the same time, we also hope that women suffering from PMDD can recover soon and no longer be troubled by it.
