Have you ever had a moment where life just seems too much to bear? No motivation to crawl out of bed or just everything makes you tear up or irrationally angry? But somehow all these emotions have one link, they magically manifest before or during your period.
If you said yes, you are not alone. Many women share your struggle but not a lot have a diagnosis to show for it. Even less have been given a proper treatment plan, and if that doesn’t tell you how far are we from reaching true gender equality, well it’s apparently not close enough!
Multiple studies show women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, dismissed, or face delays in diagnosis than men.
Statistics for heart attack & stroke errors alone illustrate that women are 50% more likely to have a heart attack misdiagnosed and 30% more likely to have a stroke misdiagnosed.
This gender imbalance is increasingly more exasperated when looking at cancer diagnoses as on average, it takes 2.5 years longer for women to get a cancer diagnosis compared to men.
Furthermore, women are more likely to have their symptoms attributed to emotional issues, stress, or weight rather than physical causes, which is why life-altering disorders such as PMDD go largely undiagnosed until it’s too late.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a severe mood disorder with symptoms like depression, anxiety, extreme irritability, and fatigue that occurs in the weeks before menstruation and are more severe than premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It significantly impacts daily life, often inhibiting productivity and produce feelings of suicidal ideation.
How many women have we lost to suicide than were secretly suffering from PMDD could we have saved with a proper diagnosis? Most likely numerous as multiple studies link PMDD to a significantly increased risk of suicide attempts, particularly during the luteal phase.
A major study found that 34% of people with PMDD have attempted suicide, while another survey noted 82% had suicidal thoughts during their luteal phase, and 26% had attempted to end their life.
Additionally, suicidal risk is highest in the days leading up to and during menstruation. Can you imagine having to battle your own mind every month with little support? No wonder these statistics are so alarming.
The education itself doesn’t help matters as Sex ED barely scratches the complexities that is the female menstrual cycle including its phases menstruation, follicular, ovulation, and luteal and the behavioral, energy, and dietary changes that come with each shift.
If we wish to protect our girls, we must do better. From developing studies that explore the effects on hormonal changes on the effectiveness of certain medications to increased feminine education in K-12 to simple increased access to mental health services.
We must do better to end the stigma and fight PMDD.