Below is a request for help from a fellow PMDD Advocate. Please
contact her if you can help. Together we can save lives. And
please go here to see the documents she has found so far.
Hey all
I need help.
Tonight I piqued the interest of my psychiatrist when I
quoted a post from another PMDD group, "23 completed female suicide
autopsies were performed - 22 of those were in the LUTEAL PHASE of their
cycle." His jaw dropped.
Last night I did 20 mins of research into the following
theory that has been in my head for the last 12 months.
Here it goes:
The true number of completed suicides resulting from PMDD
cannot be known until all coroner reports are researched to see where the
individual was at during her menstral cycle. Right now, even if 100% were in
the luteal phase or menstruating phase of their cycle, it is highly likely
those individuals would have a previous mental health diagnosis of another
kind. For example, borderline personality disorder or bipolar, given PMDD
mimics the symptoms of these two illnesses. Therefore, the completed suicides
would then be attributed to either of those illnesses and not PMDD.
IF PMDD is the culprit and merely mimicking BPD or BP, until
further research is done and looked at, PMDD suicide rates will not be truly
known. The accuracy of actual lives taken by PMDD cannot be measured.
Therefore, it is imperative that further research into
historical data on completed suicides and the menstral cycle stage the
individal was at during the time of death is done - the true cost of lives due
to PMDD suicides will not be known and neither will the severity of PMDD and
it's potential to kill be taken seriously (thus SAVING lives). This is
intricately connected to the amount of knowledge and extensive research that
has been completed on BPD/BP and the lack of such for PMDD.
If menstral cycles are indeed playing a part in the timing
of completed (or attempted) suicides, it is currently the ghost in the machine.
Until this is ruled out, or confirmed, the true cost of life
via PMDD deaths will not be known and neither will PMDD be taken as seriously
as these other well known illnesses that it mimics.
Could it also be that these illnesses are so prevalent in
women to men (75:25) because of the mimicking and this unreasonable ratio of
women to men is because PMDD is being counted as BPD or BP? If studies were
completed and found menstral cycles to be a factor in completed suicides, could
this be the turning point in diagnosing and treating PMDD in a more efficient
and successful manner?
Could understanding if menstral phases play a large part in
completed suicides completely change the way in which the entire mental health
system treats women?
If the answer is yes, we are talking absolutely
ground-breaking earth-shattering information that would change general
practice, gynecology and psychiatry. It would blow everything out of the water.
All of it. The whole medical industry would be brought to their knees...
because right now, it is dismissing it as merely bad PMS when in fact, it is
possibly one of the largest contributing factors to SUICIDES in the female
population.
So while my Doctor listened to me ramble about this, at the
end of the spiel he told me that he thinks I'm on to something. I have spent an
hour on Google and I am finding research mostly in Asia and India into this,
but some say there is no evidence to show menstral cycles play a part in
suicide while others have found 90% of 200 women were either menstruating or in
the luteal phase when they died!
If I can find studies for him - good/bad/ugly/useless, he is
going to present it to one of the most prestigious universities in Australia as
a PhD Thesis option for students.
He flat out agrees that something is not right here.
So.
I'm asking if everyone can help me out and comment with
links they find into anything about this (please include the citation and page
number). I can't do this alone and I really need some help this time.
I feel this may be a big opportunity. I could be wrong, but
ANY research into PMDD and ANYTHING that could save another life from being
stolen by this illness, is worth our time. That's why we are all here.
Australia is starting to light up and the ball has started
to roll. This is another opportunity to possibly change something most of us
think we won't live to see happen.
Maybe, we will.
Brie
Posts
