PMDs are defined as premenstrual disorders. This term includes PMS, PME, PMDD, and subtypes of PMDD. PMS is defined as Premenstrual Syndrome and according to the Obstetrics and Gynaecology online library studies show that the prevalence of premenstrual symptoms is high including eighty to ninety percent of menstruating individuals. PME is defined as premenstrual exacerbation and PMDD is defined as premenstrual dysphoric disorder, both of these are continuations of PMS. There is a wide range of symptoms when it comes to PMS but when those symptoms begin to interfere with your personal, social, or professional lives and your daily function that is when they become more serious. A lot of data and information regarding PMDs is lacking. Still, according to iapmd.org their best quality data shows a prevalence of five and a half percent of individuals who have PMDD in those who menstruate. It is important to note that this does not account for those who are misdiagnosed which is very common and those who have suppressed their ovulatory cycle by hormonal, chemical, or surgical means. The prevalence of PMDD is about as common as diabetes in females, meaning that this affects many individuals, and due to lack of information, it most likely affects many more.

I plan to raise awareness on campus through a workshop that educates individuals who may be struggling with PMDs or know someone who is to help find resources, means of diagnosis, how to advocate for yourself with healthcare providers, and more. I intend to focus on menstruating individuals in communities of color, as there are more medical disparities as well as increased taboos. I plan to do this with the Center for Community and Cultural Engagement on campus which used to include the WRC (The Women’s Resource Center). The workshop will provide a safe space for students to share their experiences and to not feel so isolated would be ideal. I plan to share my own story and have anonymous survey questions throughout the workshop to gauge how many students struggle with PMDs across campus and what resources they are lacking. The faculty mentor I work with is Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima.

Relevant Background/Literature Review

Given the lack of awareness of PMDs in the United States and on The University of Utah campus many people and students feel alone with this cyclical monthly struggle. Due to a lack of education on how the menstrual cycle works in the first place, many individuals find themselves lost on what to do and what is going on. Getting a diagnosis can be challenging and takes time.

The reasons diagnosis is so crucial is due to the prevalence of suicidal ideation and the suicide attempt rate. According to BMC Psychiatry, seventy-two percent of people with prospectively diagnosed PMDD report thoughts of suicide at some point in their lives. This is higher than the general population who report about a ten percent chance of lifetime thoughts of suicide.

Suicidal ideation is very prevalent in those with PMDs specifically those who are struggling with PMDD. These numbers get scarier when you look into actual action put toward this suicidal ideation. With a closer look, we can see that forty-nine percent of people with prospectively diagnosed PMDD have planned a suicide attempt at some point and thirty-four percent of people with prospectively diagnosed PMDD have made a suicide attempt at some point in their lives. In comparison with the general population, this number is about three percent who have attempted suicide.

Diagnosing PMDD has only recently been recognized formally as an “official” diagnosis in the medical and mental health communities according to the National Library of Medicine. Epidemiological and clinical studies consistently show that some individuals when menstruating experience a pattern of distressing and often debilitating symptoms beginning in the luteal phase of the cycle and going away when bleeding begins or a few days into bleeding/menstruating.

PMDs are recurrent and predictable when tracking your cycle but that does not make the symptoms any more manageable as knowing this is only the first step. PMDs can often be misdiagnosed as bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and others. This is why tracking symptoms and understanding the cycle is very important to ensure a treatment is received that is more likely to work for the individual and not create more harm. There is a list of symptoms on the iapmd.org site and those who believe they may have a PMD and more specifically PMDD must exhibit five symptoms including symptoms of functional impairment to observe the intensity and ensure a correct diagnosis.

There is not a ton of awareness surrounding what could be happening during an individual’s cycle and diagnosis is hard to know about and figure out. PMDs have been gaining in these areas of some mainstream society but often remain taboo. They especially remain taboo within communities of color as mental health is often heavily contested and menstruation is more of a private matter. In the research project by Virginia Martinez titled Racial Injustices: The Menstrual Health Experiences of African American and Latina Women, she talks about menstrual justice for individuals of color. By interviewing African American and Latina women she found that often there is an increased normalization of pain, symptoms, and experiences within communities of color and the health care system. Due to this, there is a large amount of frustration toward treatment that is not working as individuals of color are more likely to be misdiagnosed or dismissed and not taken seriously for their symptoms. This leads to further hopelessness.