Prior to the addition of PMDD to the DSM, a woman with complaints of certain symptoms around the time of menses, would not get the help she may have seemed. If someone cannot be labeled with a quantifiable mental illness, they are deemed 'normal' and are being left to suffer. Having a diagnosis of PMDD can be very validating and can help get that person the help they seek.  

New York University

When PMDD was added to the DSM it was met with a lot of controversies. This included the pathologizing and medicalization of women's moods and criticisms of the mental health system as a whole.

PMDD Controversy 

Oftentimes, clinicians will not treat someone if their issues are not quantifiable and therefore "normal". Getting help for symptoms that are considered normal (in the case of PMDD, depressed mood during menses) becomes immensely difficult. It can also be a very invalidating experience, to be told that you are okay when it does not feel that way. Why is it that in order for someone to get help, they must be labeled as someone with a mental illness? 

How Someone Can Get Help for Mental Health Issues

Chrisler, J. C., & Gorman, J. A. (2015). The medicalization of women’s moods: Premenstrual syndrome of premenstrual dysphoric disorder. In The Wrong Prescription for Women. M. McHugh and J. Chrisler, Eds. New York: Praeger

The medicalization of women’s moods: Premenstrual syndrome of premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Medicalizing a woman's mood means that the experience of negative emotion is not normal and needs treatment. More specifically, adding PMS and PMDD to the DSM means that women's reproductive cycles are pathologized and once a month, women are deemed to be clinically insane. 

What Does it mean to medicalize or Pathologize Women's Moods?

Perhaps the largest criticism of the mental health system to come from the addition of PMDD to the DSM is the way in which or the instances where help is provided. 

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