'Like a bereavement every month' — the extreme emotions of PMDD

All In The Mind

ABC listen

Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Laura would spend weeks feeling normal — even happy. But like clockwork, every month, suddenly she would feel intense depression, making her unrecognisable to herself and friends.

It took her nearly two decades to identify what was causing this rollercoaster of mood: PMDD, AKA Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

So what is it about hormones that make some people feel such intense emotions? And why is PMDD still so misunderstood?

This episode touches on the topic of suicide. Please take care while listening.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an ABC podcast.
0:05.1	Just a heads up, this episode touches on the topic of suicide. Take care while listening.
0:11.8	There are 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, 52 weeks in a year.
0:18.0	Except for the parts where you're sleeping, you have all of that time to get stuff done.
0:23.1	Earn money, take care of your kids, see friends.
0:26.3	But not Laura Murphy.
0:28.3	For about two weeks each month,
0:30.1	she was basically non-functional.
0:32.2	I would sleep for 14, 15 hours a night,
0:35.8	wake up, have breakfast,
0:37.0	and then need to go back for a nap again.
0:39.0	Literally couldn't keep my eyes open.
0:41.6	She would also be paralyzed by anxiety and depression.
0:44.9	I'd have multiple panic attacks a day, and the depression was just exhausting to feel, you know,
0:50.7	like the bottom had just dropped out of your world for a week.
0:54.1	And she was irritable beyond words.
0:56.0	You know, storming out of the house, three o'clock in the morning, sobbing, crying.
1:02.0	You know, I used to look at my partner and this, again, this is really, really common.
1:05.0	I used to look at him and I used to just think, well, I don't love you.
1:08.0	I don't even know who you are.
1:10.0	Why are we together? I don't love you. I don't even know who you are. Why are we together?
1:11.4	I don't know where we are together.
	...

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