Clinical depression can be extremely difficult to deal with. I have good days and bad days, and my feelings aren’t caused or influenced by anything. Every time I have more of a “bad” day, my mother tells me it must be my “time of the month.” This frustrates me because she doesn’t see that my depression is not caused by anything. She thinks that my depression is caused by my body preparing itself for my period. This isn’t true.
My “bad” days are more than a few days, and they come before, during and after my PMS. Clinical depression is a disorder, and not a result of PMS. Any “abnormal” feelings are not caused by my PMS, as my mother assures me they are. People have mood swings. When women experience these mood swings, people point to the hormones that are being released, instead of the feelings being truly valid. Women can have mood swings and “good” or “bad” days. This doesn’t mean we are about to start our periods. In some cases, it is, but why is this always the default assumption?
As a woman who struggles with clinical depression and anxiety, I truly do have times when I feel severely depressed. This doesn’t mean it is my PMS speaking, or that it is just temporary. My depression does not happen just when I am PMSing. It happens uncontrollably when I am on and off of my period.
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