If you’re a woman and experience any of the following symptoms around your period you may not be alone.
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Irritability
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Nervousness
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Lack of self control
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Anger
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Difficulty concentrating
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Severe depression (Feelings of hopelessness)
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Anxiety
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Loss of interest in relationships
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Decreased interest in usual activities
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Change of appetite
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Insomnia
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Confusion or forgetfulness
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Emotional sensitivity
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Crying spells
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Moodiness
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Poor self-image
Of course, everyone has heard of PMS, the thing that causes women’s personalities to change around their period, but not everyone has heard of PMDD. PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. This differs from PMS as it causes a lot of serious emotional and physical symptoms. I’m sure most women will admit they are pretty irritable or upset during “that time of the month,” but PMDD can actually cause you to put your life on pause. Women should not have to go through these types of symptoms because it is “that time of the month” when there could be a way to relieve you from these burdens.
I recently discovered that I matched up with all of the symptoms of PMDD almost exactly. I always got pretty “moody” around my periods, the stereotypical reaction I guess. During my freshman year of college, I started to notice my personality changing. At first, I wasn’t sure exactly why but I knew I was uninterested in relationships and daily activities, filled with anxiety, and I was generally unhappy. Once I realized these symptoms appeared around my period, I shrugged it off as hormones. It wasn’t until I experienced my first few “depressed days,” as I like to call them, that I realized something bigger was going on. I had never experienced depression and was generally extremely happy with my life. At first, I found myself crying and not knowing why, but this worsened every month until it got to the point where I would stare at a white wall with absolutely no emotion inside me for hours on end. I have no reason to be unhappy but I felt completely empty inside. Depression has a lot of bad stigmas associated with it so I was embarrassed to share my feelings with other people. Since my “depressed days” were only 1 or 2 days right around my period, I decided I could deal with it. I thought since I could predict them, I would be able to keep it from other people and pretend it wasn’t happening. Finally, one month I broke down. I knew something was wrong and this person wasn’t me. So of course, I took to Google. The results I found were surprising but put me at ease. What I was experiencing had a name and that meant I wasn’t alone. Once I matched up with all of the symptoms of PMDD, I decided that this wasn’t how I was going to live my life. It was clear that there was a hormonal imbalance that needed to be figured out and I hoped something would help.
There is no “cure” for PMDD, nor do doctors know why this happens to some unlucky women. While there is no cure, there certainly are treatments to help relieve these severe symptoms. It is advised to find some hormone therapy, this means for people who aren’t on the pill could try going on it and people who are on it, should try a new one. There are also doctors who advise changing your diet to a more healthy one. Another common treatment is exercise. Doctors advise trying out yoga, meditation, or going on walks or runs as this can help boost your mood. Sometimes the body gets too used to one type of hormonal pill and causes some pretty serious symptoms. The doctors decided to change my type of birth control pills that would cause me to only have a period once every 3 months, while this solution won’t cure my issue, I’ll only have 4 attacks instead of 12 per year. These are numbers I’m willing to live with. This change could even get rid of the disorder all together so only time will tell. I have also tried changing my diet and exercising more. So far, I have felt a lot better and experience a lot less mood swings and virtually no depression.
The reason I feel it is so important to share my story and awareness about this disorder, is because I am certain there are other women out there going through the same thing. It is scary, and even scarier to do alone. Before I was able to put a name to my emotions, I hid them, which caused even more anxiety. I encourage other women to talk to their doctor if they have these same symptoms. There is no reason to be ashamed of this disorder. It brings out a person inside of you that can seem scary at times. It caused me to fear myself and almost ruin relationships with people I really care about. If you’re experiencing depression and find yourself uneasy or afraid, it may be a good idea to talk to a therapist to help you cope with these feelings. There is almost always an answer that can make you feel better and I encourage women to seek help when it comes to PMDD. It is important to know that this isn’t normal “time of the month” behavior and there is no reason you should have to live your life fearing your period.