Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a mood disorder which occurs recurrently in the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and remits within the first day or two after the onset of menstruation. Symptoms include depression, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, bloating, breast tenderness, cramping, and headaches. About 5-9% of women of child-bearing age meet the DSM-IV criteria for PMDD. In some women, end-of-cycle worsening actually represents "menstrual magnification" of an underlying mood disorder.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder can be treated cyclically with hormonal oral contraceptives, or with antidepressants, which may be used continuously or only during the late luteal phase. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, have been found to be effective in the treatment of PMDD. Physical symptoms can be affected by the intake of caffeine, salt, alcohol, and nicotine, so the use of these substances should be monitored and potentially decreased. Sleep hygiene measures, exercise, relaxation therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy are all potentially effective non-medication strateg for milder symptoms.
Read more about this topic: Psychoneuroendocrinology, Disorders
Famous quotes containing the words syndrome and/or disorder:
“[T]he syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leech’s daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Without metaphor the handling of general concepts such as culture and civilization becomes impossible, and that of disease and disorder is the obvious one for the case in point. Is not crisis itself a concept we owe to Hippocrates? In the social and cultural domain no metaphor is more apt than the pathological one.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)