Understanding Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

On June 20, 2001 Andrea Yates shocked the nation when she drowned all five of her children in Texas. The press and the public speculated about what could cause a mother to murder her own children. Two words became a significant part of her legal team’s defense: “postpartum depression” (Cohen). A public dialogue was opened and the issue of postpartum depression saw a significant shift in awareness. This new era of enlightenment would be considerably different from the earlier history of post-partum depression and some of the shame that surrounded it. Beyond Andrea Yates, other women have increased the prominence of the mental disorder in the public’s eye, with some doing so with optimistic rather than damaging behavior. Yet, even with the increased awareness, there has not been a considerable change in the number of women treated for postpartum depression, which is still subject to many stigmas in today’s society. Despite this, much has altered in the how postpartum is viewed over the past decade and a half, which gives hope for a future where mothers will receive the full care and support they need to combat the disorder.

The main character’s mental issues are diminished simply because she is a woman. Men see them as highly emotional and irrational and dismiss their feelings based on that. Her husband thinks just because he is a doctor and she is just his wife he knows

Until the medical breakthroughs that we have made in the modern day, psychology as a science was not fully understood. Modern technology has given us a clearer idea of psychology, but in the past there was less known about the science. This alongside a predominantly male medical discourse led to a medical diagnosis in many women called hysteria. Female hysteria was a medical diagnosis given to specifically women as far back as the ancient Greek civilization. Hysteria started as a supernatural phenomena, but as medicine evolved it would be described as a mental disorder, (Tasca). Hysteria. in actuality, is an absurd and fabricated diagnosis that institutionalized and discriminated countless women. The way it makes a women feel, and the fact that it strips a woman of any sort of free will is a sickening display of blatant misogyny. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman perfectly displays not only the misogyny, but the torture a woman must face trapped under a hysteria diagnosis. Hysteria as a diagnoses fails to effectively treat many women, instead leading to the mistreatment and wrongful institutionalization of women.

It was thought “that reproductivity was central to a women’s biological life” and a woman must “concentrate their physical energy internally, toward the womb” (Ehrenreich and English p44). Many women’s disorders were termed hysteria derived from the Greek word hystera, meaning womb. It was thought these disorders originated from the womb since this was the main aspect of a woman’s life. These types of treatments were not necessarily a need for medical attention to women’s disorders but instead a simple way to maintain the women’s role in the 1800’s: the domestic stay- at- home care-giver. Women needed to remain at home caring for man and their offspring.

Postpartum depression, which is the most prevalent of all maternal depressive disorders, is said to be the hidden epidemic of the 21st century. (1) Despite its high prevalence rate of 10-15% and increased incidence, postpartum depression often goes undetected, and thus untreated. (2) Nearly 50% of postpartum depression cases are untreated. As a result, these cases are put at a high risk of being exposed to the severe and progressive nature of their depressive disorder. (3) In other words, the health conditions of untreated postpartum depression cases worsen and progress to one of their utmost stages, and they are: postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum panic disorder, postpartum post traumatic stress, and postpartum psychosis.

The presence of risk factors does not guarantee that a woman will experience PPD, but it may indicate that the health care provider should pay a little more attention to possible signs and symptoms of depression. Known risk factors include depression or other mental illness prior to, and during, pregnancy, a family history of depression or other mental health disorders, a history of substance abuse, the age of the mother, financial concerns, lack of a support system, and being a single parent (Camp, 2013). In the presence of risk factors it is important for the health care provider to educate the woman on ways to

The author describes various interactions between mothers and the medical system, in which the discussion crosses normal physician/patient boundaries (Frederick 2016). This is seen as acceptable because we have been deeply ingrained with the fear of disability and abnormality, that it has become acceptable to chastise individuals for “bringing a burden” on to society. There are distinct similarities between Scientific Motherhood and Fat-Talk Nation, in that both writings delineate how strongly we react to individuals who differ from our standard of normal, and how we openly accept and encourage abuse directed at them when they do deviate from our “normal” (Frederick 2016; . Frederick describes various instances in which mothers were subtly (or not so subtly) encouraged to seek abortions or sterilization (Frederick 2016). These exchanges are similar to those in the film No Mas Bebes were Mexican-American women were seen as a “threat” to the “normal” U.S. life during the 1960s and 1970s, and were thus forcibly sterilized without consent (Espino 2015). These examples show how these groups are being targeted as bad biocitizens. They are seen as being purposely bringing a burden to society, which allows for their

The modern world is in the midst of reconstructing gender roles; debates about contraception, reproductive freedom, and female inequality are contentious and common. The majority now challenges the long established assertion that women’s bodies are the eminent domain of patriarchal control. In the past, a woman’s inability to control her reproductive choices could come with ruinous consequences. Proponents of patriarchal control argue against reproductive independence with rhetoric from religious texts and with anecdotes of ‘better days,’ when women were subservient. Often, literature about childbearing fails to acknowledge the possibility of women being uninterested in fulfilling the role of motherhood.

A woman’s body is an incredible creation, designed by God to nurture and bring forth new life. The outward changes and evolution of pregnancy are obvious and amazing. The neurological and hormonal changes are invisible but no less significant. This story focuses on the invisible elements of child birth and points to how society has misunderstood and mislabeled PPD as a psychological disorder. By definition PPD is “moderate to severe depression in a woman after she has given birth” (Board 1). Throughout the story, the woman shows many signs of this psychological disorder, but due to the era she is living in, research has not been established that she is suffering from an actual medical condition. The reader starts to acquire clues such as the woman’s

Everyone experiences some unhappiness in his or her lifetime whether it is a specific situation or not. It becomes more serious when the cause is a form of "depression." It is a fact that women experience depression about twice as much as men (1). These causes specifically for women can be complex and so are the solutions (3). A common syndrome affecting an estimated 3% to 8% of women in their reproductive years is called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) (4). PMDD is specifically known as a mood disorder of severe depression, irritability, and tension with symptoms worsening a week or so before a woman's menstrual period and usually settling out afterwards (5). PMDD can be devastating to

Women make up just slightly over half the U.S population (US Census Bureau, 2010) and should not be even considered a part of a minority group. The female population should acquire the same equal research attention as men do, especially when it comes to health issues. The unavoidable, yet quite simple realities of breastfeeding, menstruation, menopause, along with pregnancy require special scrutiny from medical experts. Those medical specialties are generally referred as gynecologists or obstetrics, who focus on the exclusive needs of a female’s reproductive health throughout their lifespan. Historically, the health needs of women have been disregarded as well as their fundamental rights. However, over the past few decades, it has grabbed the media and the government’s attention causing some major changes in support of women’s rights and health care.

A depression disorder is characterized by an episode of intense sadness, depressed moods or marked loss of interest or pleasure in nearly activities. Studies have revealed that depression in women is two to three times more prevalent in women than in men. With this being conveyed women deal with infidelity stresses and stresses and conflicts generally in a manner where depression is dominant. Depression disorder is rampant therefore in women where

Evidence suggest that genetic factors may contribute to as much as one third of the cause of PND (Treloar, Martin, Buchole, 1999). The research carried out by Murphy and Zandi (2006) shows that relatives of women with postnatal depression had severe risks of suffering from the condition. Furthermore, hormone such as oestrogen and progesterone have been reported as a possible cause of PND, however studies have proven negative findings (Zonana and Goman, 2005). The relationship between the hormonal environment of the puerperium and depression has been noted ever since Hippocrates (Hanley, 2009). Conversely, many authors concluded that a sudden reduction in progesterone after childbirth can lead to PND (Glangeaud and Freudenthal et al, 1999).

Women experience depression at twice the rate of men. Gender differences emerge first at puberty and occur mainly in the common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety among others. These disorders, in which women predominate, affect approximately 1 in 3 people. The frequency of major depression in adults is estimated to be 7 to 12 percent in men and 20 to 25 percent in women in a community and this constitutes a serious public health problem (NIMH, 2006). Several and variable factors in women contribute to depression, such as genetic, hormonal, developmental, reproductive, and other biological differences like premenstrual syndrome, childbirth, infertility and menopause. Factors associated to social issues may lead to depression

Societal perceptions of motherhood in North America have changed drastically over the last century and continue to change. Due to prescribed traditional gender roles, the concept of motherhood has historically been latent in the concept womanhood, in that a woman’s ability to reproduce was seen to be an inherent part of her identity. Thus there existed societal pressures not only for women to become mothers, but to fit into the impossible standard of being the “perfect mother”. However, as the feminist movement gained more ground and women were increasingly incorporated into the workforce, these traditional views of gender roles and in turn motherhood were challenged. As the family dynamics that exist today are much more diverse, what