Today is World Mental Health Day. A day "to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health."
According to the World Health Orginzation, stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to social inclusion and access to the right care. We can all play a part by talking about mental illnesses without stigma, learning more about the conditions that affect millions of people very year, improving the affordability and quality of mental health care and raising awareness about which mental health interventions work.
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It was the winter of 2014. A few months prior we moved from Jacksonville, FL to Greenville, SC This was my first "real" winter after spending over 10 years in warm and sunny Florida. My dad had recently passed away after a 10-month battle with stage IV cancer.
Throughout this time, I noticed that around the start of my menstrual cycle (in the 1-2 weeks prior), I did not feel or act like myself. I was becoming easily irritated and anxious. So many unexpected and uncontrolled heightened emotions started to negatively impact my life. There were times I felt suicidal, times when I would panic and other times when I was angry and irritable. I was hypersensitive to everything. I had trouble concentrating.
And then it was like a light switched off. A few days after my menstrual cycle started, the darkness cleared and I became more like myself - happy, optimistic, patient, positive. Month after month, I felt like I only had two weeks of living normally. The emotional symptoms were so distressing that it was severly impacting my daily life. And once my period started, it was a huge relief - I finally had my life back.
I talked with my sport doctor and he diagnosed me with PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) - a much more severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Women like myself who have PMDD are sensitive to the normal fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, which triggers the debilitating mood symptoms.
I'm extremely thankful to my doctor for not blaming my symptoms on my "raging hormones." He gave me a diagnosis so I could then explore treatment options. When I talked to my GYN, she suggested that an antidepressant may help. I was hesitant. I felt like an antidepressant was the easy way out and I could treat this on my own with lifestyle changes. I tried tweaking my diet, working with a counselor and changing my exercise routine. Nothing was helping. Almost two years after being diagnosed with PMDD, I decided I would try an antidepressant (SSRI).
After a few months, I found it easier to function each month. My symptoms were less severe and I could better manage my emotions. I could better recognize my triggers and I learned how to better cope with my symptoms.
For a while, I felt embarassed that I needed medication to feel normal. But overtime, I realized that taking one small pill, once a day, was my lifeline. The antidepressant wasn't turning my into a different person - it was helping to maintain my normal personality and quality of life.
Every month I pick up two medications from the Walmart pharmacy. Phenobarbital for Campy to prevent his seizures and Sertraline for my mental health. I always joke with Karel that I am picking up our "happy brain" pills.
Campy needs a pill to control the abnormal activity in his brain and I need a pill abnoral response to normal hormonal changes.
Demonizing medication as a treatment option for mental health does a real disservice to those in need of it. Mental health is equally as important as physical health. Illness is illness. Mental health is health.