Vanessa Jaccoud, specialist in psychosomatics, talks about PMDD, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, a disease that causes depression, mood swings and even a risk of suicide.
One in twenty women suffer from PMDD – Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, a disease that causes depression, mood swings and even a risk of suicide.
Vanessa Jaccoud, Psychosomatics Specialist, talks about the importance of awareness of PMDD, symptoms and types of treatment
There has never been so much news about women. Some about your achievements and empowerment. Others for violence and disrespect. But here we will talk about physical and mental health, a fundamental right for those who play an important role in all areas of society, history, family.
Women’s health includes disease prevention, awareness of their bodies, fighting certain socio-cultural issues, transforming it into a commitment of the whole society to maintain their health, safety and quality of life. So, let’s talk about a disease that is present in women’s everyday life, it has become a common expression for difficult days, but which can mean a mental disorder – PMDD.
One of the ways the female body communicates is through menstruation. During this time, PMS (Premenstrual Stress) can cause more than 150 symptoms in 75% of women. However, one in twenty women suffer from a condition called PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), caused by a genetic change in serotonin receptors (a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, appetite and pain), which causes emotions out of proportion to events. outer.
According to the new version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (2013), PMDD is a subtype of mental disorder that can cause extreme depression, impulsivity, aggression, and irritability. There is even a risk of suicide and physical aggression in this severe form of PMS.
PMS is not a disease, but a set of symptoms that can appear every month before menstruation, such as headaches, bloating, cramps, body aches, etc., which can be relieved with regular physical activities and proper eating habits. However, some women who suffer from PMS present this serious and severe mental disorder, which requires treatment with a psychiatrist specializing in female mental health.
PMDD according to Dr. Vanessa Jaccoud
“The specialty that covers this field, precisely psychosomatics, where I am a specialist, carries out this meeting of the connection between the body and the mind, and all the specifics and fields that are within the possible situations, both physical and mental. Psychosomatics is this all-encompassing specialty.
The topic is very important, especially now in modern times, because people talk a lot these days about isolation anxiety and other illnesses. But, for example, recently a patient of mine in Portugal, who often began to make an unhealthy cycle of mood swings and losses, including those of relationships, because of this imbalance she was constantly experiencing, caught my attention, as it has done in family inheritance of severe mental health conditions. I expanded the consultations to better understand this cycling and began to point out the need to track the flow of menstruation each month, describing how the symptoms of the total period, those before menstruation, and the whole part of hormonal regulation was tracked.
So she was referred to a doctor, underwent all the necessary examinations and screening to follow what she had, she suffered a lot from these mood swings and her marital relationship of years was “broken” for this reason of consumption. In this tracking made as a diary, I was connecting and understanding there elements that during the month warned that she would be affected by this sudden swing. It is like shooting, the disparity near this premenstrual period is exactly what causes these effusions – this extreme distress that culminates in very serious episodes of anger and severe dysregulation many times.
So, from this path I finalized the understanding and closed the PMDD diagnosis, where I managed to bring a much better quality of life to the patient, who is a nulliparous woman (who has not yet succeeded), she even works, has an asset. life, but those days he said that he seemed “out of his body”, that he was not himself, then everything returned to normal. To live like this for him and others is an extreme trouble, accompanied by a series of losses of which we must always be aware. Precisely because the woman ends up carrying that stereotype of “crazy,” “insane,” and “decompensated” in emotions, the whole meaning often gets worse and doesn’t help at all. There are none of these! We have a very serious problem in women’s health, especially at this specific point and on the basis of correct treatment, such as the referral of psychosomatics to psychiatry and also to the gynecologist, I as a specialist was able to do all this raid. this great patch of improvement for my patient, and today her marital relationship has resumed and they have an excellent standard of living, without these fluctuations in flow and without confrontations, which were impossible for her. I emphasize that the patient had even thought about suicide, since she did not have a concrete diagnosis to explain her symptoms in those days.
Thank God we were able to understand and here is the information to be explained and disseminated in quality so that people at least undergo a technical view of what can happen when these imbalances and concerns can be so great that losses are involved and many feelings. in one’s life. There is always room for improvement!”
Symptoms of PMDD
In addition to common PMS symptoms, such as breast pain, abdominal bloating, fatigue, or mood swings, people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder may have emotional or behavioral symptoms, such as:
. Extreme sadness or a feeling of hopelessness
. Excessive anxiety and stress
. Sudden mood swings
. Frequent irritation and anger
. panic attacks
. Insomnia
. Difficulty concentrating
Examples of treatments
. Antidepressants, which help relieve symptoms of sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, and mood swings. They can also improve feelings of tiredness and difficulty sleeping.
. The contraceptive pill, which regulates hormone levels throughout the menstrual cycle and reduces PMDD symptoms.
. Analgesics, which relieve headaches, menstrual cramps or chest pain.
. Calcium, vitamin B6 and magnesium, which can also help relieve symptoms, are considered a natural option.
. Medicinal plants capable of reducing irritability and frequent mood swings, as well as breast pain, bloating and menstrual cramps.
But, in addition to these treatments, it is important to seek a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet, exercise at least 3 times a week and avoid substances such as alcohol and cigarettes.
About Dr Vanessa Jaccoud
Psycho-oncologist from FCMMG- Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais;
Member of SBPO – Brazilian Society of Psycho-Oncology;
Specialist in Psychosomatics from FCMSCSP-Faculty of Medical Sciences of Santa Casa de São Paulo;
Member of ABMP-SP- Brazilian Association of Psychosomatic Medicine;
Clinical psychologist;
Certified member of WPATH – World Professional Association for Transgender Health;
Certification in Advanced Transgender Health Excellence from Harvard Medical School;
Certification in Complex Trauma from Harvard Medical School;
Certification in Psychological First Aid from Johns Hopkins University;
Update in Neuropsychiatry from Albert Einstein-Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa;
Certification in Chronic Pain from the University of Minnesota;
Certification in Mind Body Medicine from Harvard Medical School;
2022 Psychiatry Update from Harvard Medical School;
Harvard Medical School Memory Enhancement Training;
Introduction to Clinical Neurology from the University of California-San Francisco;
Update in Psychiatry from Mclean Hospital-Endorsed by the American Psychological Association.
He also works in the fields of Psychoneuroendocrineimmunology and Psychopharmacogenetics.
Author of the brochure “Should we talk about transgenderism?”
Speaker on various topics in mental health, author of the book Transgeneridade: A case of transcendence and creator of the TRANquilaMENTE project.
Instagram: @dravanessajaccoud
