Premenstrual Disorders

the pan in the wrong cupboard. She went to bed angry, woke up angry, and nothing in life seemed right. Once her husband brought home dinner to surprise her, since it was her night to cook. Instead of thanking him, she began crying: she was sure he was trying to pacify her because he felt she was incompetent to cook a decent dinner. But Lois knew her children were the ones who suffered most. During the week or two before her period, her two daughters, a five- and seven-year-old, always watched Lois carefully, afraid to say or do the wrong thing. Normally, when she picked them up from day care, the three of them talked about their day or sang songs or planned an evening of family fun. But for a week or two each month, Lois would always find something that made her yell at the girls. They talked too loud, or they didn’t answer her questions, or they bickered with each other until she wanted to scream. On those nights, the drive usually ended in an explosion; both Lois and her girls would run into the house, unable to enjoy anything that evening. When Lois began taking an SSRI during the luteal phase of her cy- cle, things changed drastically. She and the girls enjoyed their rides home every night, and the family was able to continue planning a game night and movie night each week throughout the month. They enjoyed short outings to a pumpkin farm and petting zoo. Because Lois felt so much better, she had more energy for everything in her life. Some people think that PMS was invented by women to excuse their need to “vent” occasionally. However, research shows that PMS and PMDD are very real. Depending on the individual, the severity of symptoms ranges from mild to debilitating. Many women who suf- fer from PMS will experience problems that lead to relationship dif- ficulties, or they may find it hard to be productive and dependable at school and on the job. But some women suffer such major changes during the later part of the menstrual cycle that those who know them are sometimes terrified by these women’s behavior. For instance, Kendra was a freshman in high school when she first experienced a “fit of anger” that surprised even herself. She

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Case Studies