Premenstrual Disorders

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need to decrease their dosages. It is always best to start at very low

levels, moving slowly up to the lowest effective dose.

Most studies are done on women, not adolescents. Many adults

assume all teenagers will rebel and act out during these years,

so they do not consider that some teenage girls may be suffering

from PMS or PMDD rather than just being rebellious. One mother

reported to a friend, “If you think you had trouble with your son, wait

until your daughter becomes a teenager. They are ten times worse

than any boy.” Many physicians who treat adolescents, however,

are coming to believe that a close association may exist between a

young woman’s behavior and her menstrual cycle. Girls who were

well-behaved and pleasant children may suddenly become distant,