Menstrual psychosis and PMDD

PROFESSOR Dr Ian Brockington is credited for his work on menstrual psychosis, a term first coined by psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who came up with the first description and classification of the condition characterised by acute onset of manic symptoms, in sync with the menstrual cycle. Correspondingly, many women battle with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a very severe condition, causing a range of emotional and physical symptoms every month during the week or two before the period. Symptoms of PMDD include mood swings, lack of interest in activities, feeling hopeless, suicidal feelings, feeling angry or irritable, feeling overwhelmed or out of control, and difficulty concentrating.

What has been women’s experiences?

Paula, 45, mother of two:

Every month, like clockwork, in the week before my period, I get suicidal thoughts, feel hopeless, cry a lot, and just feel like the world would be better off without me. It took me a while to make the link to my period; before, I just thought I was depressed. But since I’ve been clocking it, I can basically use it to know when my period is approaching. These moments are the lowest in my life, I can tell you, it’s like a switch goes off, and all I can see is darkness.

Natalia, 42, mother of one:

It’s like I’m Jekyll and Hyde — one minute I’ll be OK, and the next I’m in traffic bawling my eyes out, accusing my husband of cheating, getting irritated with my kids, job, everything, and just wanting to be alone. For me, the insult of “are you on your period?” isn’t really an insult, because I really want to eat somebody’s head off when it’s my time of the month.

Kaylah, 33, mother of two:

It’s like those cartoon dark clouds that you see — in my case I’m not suicidal, I’m homicidal. It’s amazing control women actually have, because to feel this way every month and not act on it, takes a lot of strength. I’m able to identify it for what it is, though, and ride out the storm, especially since I felt the same way while on high-oestrogen birth control. So my husband knows that I only want to kill him one time each month and he’s used to the psychotic me by now.

Allison, 40, mother of four:

If you suffer from depression or any other such condition you’ll probably need meds to get through each month. I found that only going on anti-depressants saved me from my darkest moments with PMDD.