Episode 12: What it’s like to live with PMDD

Many of us struggle with uncomfortable physical and emotional symptoms in the days and weeks before our periods. But for an estimated 1 in 20 menstruators, the premenstrual phase can be debilitating. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, is a mental disorder that severely affects sufferers’ ability to function. In honor of PMDD Awareness Month, we talk to Amanda LeFleur, the co-founder and executive director of the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD), who shares insights from her journey with PMDD and how IAPMD is a resource for those affected. And author Chloe Caldwell reads an excerpt from her essay “The Red Zone, A Love Story.”

Resources + links

IAPMD is the global resource offering education and peer support for anyone impacted by the core premenstrual disorders: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and Premenstrual Exacerbation of underlying disorders.

UK based PMDD resource: Vicious Cycle, led by Laura Murphy.

Me v PMDD is a symptom tracker and the makers of the powerful video, “What is PMDD?”

Our theme song is Crimson Wave, performed by Tacocat, courtesy of Hardly Art Records.

Additional music used in episode 12: “Down to Earth” by Yung Kartz under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Voices shared from 3:02 to 4:00 minutes in this video are clips from a video compilation made by Me v PMDD.