I just had to post this. I had to get the word out about something that needs to be more widely known and understood.
PMS is not a joke. It is horrible and shitty to have to go through.
PMDD is different and is also not a joke.
Now let me explain for those who don’t know. PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. Let’s look at those words more closely.
Premenstrual: Roughly speaking the two-week period leading up to a woman’s menstruation every month.
Dysphoric: Dysphoria is described as being “a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation.” And can often indicate an increased risk for suicide.
Disorder: many clinicians will describe psychiatric disorders as deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors
NOW, lets break down disorder into those 3 parts
Deviant: thoughts or behaviors that are different from most of the rest of a given cultural context
Distress: a subjective feeling that something is really very wrong
Dysfunction: when a person’s ability to work, and live is clearly and often measurably impaired.
These 3 things are what the field of psychology would like to call the criteria for diagnosing someone with a mental or behavioral illness. That last one in particular. Now that was a lot of info so how about I make this all a little bit more visual…
So now that you understand what PMDD means and that it is a real diagnosable illness, lets take a look at what it means to live with it.
PMDD was added to the DSM in its most recent addition in 2013, the DSM5 lists the following 11 symptoms as characteristic of PMDD
· Marked lability (e.g., mood swings)
· Marked irritability or anger
· Markedly depressed mood
· Marked anxiety and tension
· Decreased interest in usual activities
· Difficulty in concentration
· Lethargy and marked lack of energy
· Marked change in appetite (e.g., overeating or specific food cravings)
· Hypersomnia or insomnia
· Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
· Physical symptoms (e.g., breast tenderness or swelling, joint or muscle pain, a sensation of ‘bloating’ and weight gain)
Speaking as someone who has been diagnosed with this by an actual doctor, I can say that PMDD is the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with, when I am not in the premenstrual period I am constantly thinking about how far away from it I am. I plan things around it because I can, because it comes every month like clockwork. All I can do is try and enjoy my self for the two weeks every month when I am not in absolute hell. And when it comes, everything is a struggle. I have to force myself to go to class, force myself to talk to people, force myself to shower, brush my teeth and do anything other than pull myself out of crying fits and into numbness, out of anxiety attacks and into the temptation to self harm.
After it is all over I try and move on and recover and live my life to the fullest until it comes back but that is all I can hope for. A half life.
So let me reiterate, PMDD is not a joke. If those symptoms or my testament hit a little too close to home, please share your concerns with a doctor and get a formal diagnosis and treatment. And for everyone else, all I ask is that you spread awareness and try to think twice the next time you think about accusing a girl of PMSing because ever since 2013 this has been a bona fide mental illness. We as a society can not claim that we are working towards reducing the stigma on mental illnesses if we are only doing so for a select few on a list of many.
Please reblog and spread awareness.
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