# @shannmcintosh on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CNIZz2iBdLF
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/7169885-shannmcintosh-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3c34520df2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-04-01T17:13:03.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Shannon McIntosh (@SHANNON_MAC) — https://gondola.cc/SHANNON_MAC

## Caption

I was ready to talk about this, and then I wasn’t. But I’m forcing myself to...

April is PMDD awareness month and I feel it is important to bring attention to this with hopes of potentially helping other women who are living with this awful disorder and being misdiagnosed or wondering if they’re crazy. 

PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It’s a hormone sensitivity disorder in the brain. Essentially, a severe negative reaction to the natural rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone. And yes, it’s about as fun and confusing as it sounds.

Depression and mood disorders run in my family. There’s history of depression, bi-polar,
Schizophrenia etc etc. So, when I was a teenager, my doctor put me on an antidepressant to treat “depression”.

As I’ve gotten older, and with the help of several people in my life, I was able to essentially self-diagnose by realizing my depression & other symptoms were cyclical and I felt “like myself” 50% of the time.

Symptoms range from severe depression, hopelessness to anxiety, irritability, feelings of overwhelm, brain fog... yada yada yada. 

I have been able to work through it and find ways to cope, but there really is no “cure”. I’m super thankful for the_sport__physiologist who has helped me understand the condition better and convince me to get back on an SSRI which truly has improved my quality of life significantly.

There are many more resources out there now than there were when I first was trying to figure this out over 10 years ago, so if you or someone you know might be suffering from this, I highly recommend visiting iapmdglobal and reading more about PMDD.

Please send me a DM if you have any questions. 🖤

#pmddawareness #pmddawarenessmonth
#pmddwarrior

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## Tags

pmddwarrior, pmddawareness, pmddawarenessmonth

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