PMDD is a hormone based mood disorder with symptoms arising during the Premenstrual or luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (from IAPMD.org) Folks that have a menstrual cycle can experience symptoms such as cramping, bloating, fatigue, a feeling of heaviness, headache, food cravings, diarrhea, difficulty with sleeping(too much or too little) or swelling, achiness and more. If that were not enough the psychological symptoms can include, depression, fragility, anger, anxiety, paranoia, moodiness, hopelessness, suicidal ideation and more.
According to the DSM 5, the above symptoms, at least five of them must be present right before menses (bleeding). The symptoms get in the way of working, school, social interactions and relationships with others. The symptoms go away in a week or so after menses(bleeding).
As a medical condition, PMDD can be difficult to diagnose, with some people under-diagnosed (the “it’s hormonal and just get over it” dismissive mentality) or misdiagnosed (it’s not uncommon for women with PMDD to be misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder). It is a challenge to get an official diagnosis, as I personally experienced during my 14-year experience with PMDD. The journey to finally hearing the words “premenstrual dysphoric disorder” can be overwhelming, however, for some people who have been struggling with extremely debilitating symptoms for years, there can be a short-lived sense of relief.
PMDD is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM since 2013. Today, there seems to be a lack of information or discussion about the severe symptoms folks can experience. When something gets added to the DSM it indicates that more people are impacted and more research needs to happen. Thankfully, more is know about PMDD than ever before.