Every month, as her period approaches, Mélanie feels bad. She is sad, anxious, edgy, tired, negative and paranoid. “The impression that we are getting nowhere, that we are useless and that we will never get out of this state”, sums up the young woman. For more than ten years, she consults a lot of health professionals who receive her and listen to her… but do not understand what she has.
Five years ago, her general practitioner noted her discomfort and told her to come back two weeks later to see if she still felt bad, and to possibly switch to antidepressant treatment. Except that two weeks later, Mélanie feels better. Because when her period arrives, all her symptoms disappear. And that is precisely the particularity of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) compared to depression or bipolarity.
Desperate, Mélanie decides to meet a specialist in TDPM, psychologist Hélène Marais-Thomas. Since then, she has learned, through behavioral and cognitive therapy, to experience her symptoms less intensely. “I see this disorder as the moment when I will give myself some sweetness, take time for myself and take it more slowly. It helps me live it much better. »
Mélanie’s video testimony can be found at the top of this article.