Premenstrual dysphoria: depression before the days

Premenstrual dysphoria
PMDD – When depression comes every month

Tired, irritable, under the weather: almost every woman knows PMS. Some are hit particularly hard. You suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Regularly once a month she stands on the mat: the period. And to make things really annoying in advance, she doesn’t come alone, but brings her beloved friends with headaches, a bad mood and tearfulness: A warm welcome premenstrual syndromealso known as PMS. The Phase between ovulation and the start of menstruation is torture for everyone involved – the woman who suffers from it and those around her who have to endure it. For some, however, this very phase is almost unbearable: they suffer from an extreme form of premenstrual syndrome, a disorder called premenstrual dysphoria, short PMDS or PMDD.

PMS or Premenstrual Dysphoria: What’s the Difference?

Around 80% of women You know it: In the time between ovulation and the start of your period, you are plagued by hormone-related problems, also known as PMS.

Typical physical symptoms include:

and psychological-emotional symptoms:

Around 8% of all women On the other hand, in the second half of the cycle not only suffer from these symptoms, but also experience the extreme form of premenstrual disorder: premenstrual dysphoria.

Typical physical symptoms are:

and psycho-emotional symptoms of dysphoric disorder:

Women with PMDD experience themselves as completely different people can no longer pursue their everyday lives and jobs – A total one Loss of control, which can ultimately cost you partners, friends and even your job. And not just once, but regularly every month.

And then, as if by magic, it stops again: With Once menstruation begins and estrogen levels fall, the symptoms disappear suddenly.

What happens in the body when PMDD occurs?

How exactly premenstrual disorders arise in all their forms remains to be seen not yet fully clarified. However, they obviously play a large part in the cyclical total failure female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. Because women who do not produce these hormones – after menopause, removal of the ovaries, or even pregnant women – do not have PMS. Nevertheless, the dysphoric disorder PMDS in particular seems to be present processes in the brainmore precisely the interaction between hormones and the hippocampus.

The Hippocampus in turn is a central part of the limbic system and is responsible, among other things, for:

Before, people didn’t know that they… Hormones communicate with our brain. It is now clear that, especially among women who suffer from premenstrual dysphoria, Changes in the brain expire.

Scientific studies indicate that estrogen and progesterone influence the Serotonin levels have. This in turn has a direct effect on the mood. Depression and aggression can therefore be a sequence of Serotonin deficiency be. The hippocampus is also the region of the brain in which there are particularly many Receptors for sex hormones can be found. That’s why this part of our brain is so sensitive to the effects of sex hormones.

What can you do about PMDD?

The possibilities of diagnosis are limited, because in most cases they deliver blood values including hormone levels no hint to a dysphoric disorder. Often both family doctors and gynecologists cannot do anything with the clinical picture and refer you to one Psychiatrist. But above all, they are experts in this field gynecological endocrinologists. Affected women are recommended to take at least three cycles Mood diary and bring it with you when you visit the doctor. Unfortunately, the specialists are often only found in larger cities, and things can be difficult outside of metropolitan areas.

This helps women affected by PMDD:

Around 4 years ago, the inclusion of the premenstrual dysphoric disorder PMDS in the world brought major progress for affected women DMS-5, the diagnostic and statistical guide to mental disorders. The PMDS is therefore medically recognized as an independent psychological disorderwhich makes the diagnosis much easier and at the same time differentiates it from other forms of PMS.

Barbara