As someone who was diagnosed with PMDD, and only achieved diagnosis after journalling my symptoms for over a year...I can tell you that the struggle is real, yo. Seriously. Zoloft saved my life, and my marriage. My symptoms became so severe, right before my cycle would start, that I would regularly contemplate suicide because I couldn't deal with the anxiety, depression and mood swings. Actually starting my cycle would bring such sweet relief, that I would cry with joy. Being on a low dose of Zoloft, every day, has helped me regain myself, and the difference is amazing.
BeyondTheBath1 Good to hear you found some relief. Sounds a bit excessive that you had to journal for a year. I can relate to the symptoms. That struggle is very real indeed.
veryangrypigeon I didn't *have* to journal for a year, but it helped to plead my case with my MD. I was journalling symptoms for something else, too (migraines), but having a solid year of symptoms that I could refer back to really solidified my case...and when I showed my MD how drastically things had changed after starting Zoloft, we were both astonished.
Zoloft helped me as well i could say it saved my life. I was diagnosed with PMDD over two years ago but before that i struggled with it for years before i ever knew that what i was feeling was a real thing and that it had a name. The struggle is real and zoloft saved me. This woman seems to me like she hasn't ever experienced PMDD so how can she have a opinion on the subject? I know what i felt and what i felt was real!
Yeah... I don't think I need someone to tell me what exists and what does not. Like some others here, I suffer from increased irritability and at times even suicidal a week prior to menstruation, which I would not exaggerate let alone want to go through.
I usually enjoy TedTalks, but I think this is the worst I've ever heard. Many women have actual PMS. I know when my emotions are being affected by hormonal changes. I can feel it. My logical brain will be thinking, "This commercial shouldn't make you cry," yet tears are rolling down my cheeks nonstop. Her argument shouldn't be, "Women are lying. PMS doesn't exist." It should be, "We need more efficient and effective research in this area."
Well, she DID say that not all but 3-8% of women do experience PMS and if you feel in that way then maybe you are among those 3-8 % of people... but it's just that she is saying that nowadays everyone uses it as an excuse to deal with their problems so before blaming on our hormones we should try analyzing our problems and find a proper solutions for it, that's all :)
Shan, I used to say the same thing! But check yourself. Do you ever cry at a commercial when you aren't near your period? Because I started realizing that I'm just kinda an empathetic person. Like this Ted Talks lady says, when you reflect back, you go, "oh I'm crying because of PMS," but if you kept a daily log, I bet you would see that you are just sensitive to certain types of commercials/situations regardless of your cycle. :)
I was thinking the same thing, yesterday I finally decided to see a health professional, because two days before every menstruation, I become a different person, I become a very weak person, and you can imaging my behaviour with my family!
Her argument isn’t that women are lying tho. Her argument is that there is no good research and it’s not well defined. She’s saying that media and miss information is making millions of women think they have a some “mental disorder”. it’s that women are being told they have a mental disorder when they don’t.
Shan Howard that’s exactly what I thought when i finished watching this wrong speach. It seems like she hasn’t done her research correctly at all.. plus there’s an effective treatment with a logical theory about it, done by Dr. Jorge Lolas
I am from The Netherlands, and PMS is not only mentally. But very much fysically. Why not take the 8 % serieusly? So please focus your next research on these 8%, and help!!
Periods and PMS were never the same thing folks! PRE-Menstrual Syndrome begins a WEEK BEFORE period. Usually. Not a few days before or during period. Period is just period and that's a different monster.
If you are making the decision that PMS/PMDD isn't real based on the level of evidence presented, it would be foolish. I feel confused and invalidated by this TED talk.
Whether PMS is real or not. I think everyone can agree that something happens to the body physically and mentally a week before period. And I think PMS is just a name for it, I don't understand why it wouldn't be considered real
@@sheeshwoof she's still wrong. I am an african woman that moved to the USA and we hear a lot about pms in Africa. In fact we talk about it more than here in the USA
In my experience Chinese culture considers all mental issues to be caused by nutritional deficiencies. Combine this with the cultural habit that women are the undisputed master at the home, and the natural taboo that women have talking about this issue, it is only logical that this issue "does not exist" in Chinese society.
I track my period on apps. when I’m down for no reasons, I started thinking “why”, and check the app. It’s usually 5-6 days before period starts. PMS does exist. Women work hard by trying to forget what it is, try not to be emotional. It’s very hard for women. This video doesn’t support this unfortunately.
I know, what is this bullshit? My girlfriend is a very happy person.... until a few days before her period, where she thinks the great life she usually enjoys is utter garbage and nothing is enjoyable anymore.
@@jacobmaccormack9162 I really love how you care a lot about your girlfriend and notice the changes in her during this tough stage of every woman's life that keeps reappearing over and over again. God bless.
I think she brings up some incredibly reputable and important points in this talk but fully discounting PMS is so wrong. As a sufferer of Depression and Anxiety I have had to keep a number of "mood journals" and many times I've been able to identify a fluctuation in mood (my mother and partner can vouch) the week before and during my menstruation which leads me to believe that PMS is most definitely a symptom of hormonal changes in the menstrual cycle. However, not ALL women do suffer these symptoms! And furthermore, she is absolutely right about the mistreatment of prescription drug use for PMS and how these pharmaceutical companies are wreaking the benefits from women’s assumptions that they have PMS. And yes, the equality between genders is so relevant in a talk like this.
Ella Fay Agreed, it's kinda hurtful to discount the whole of PMS when a lot of women currently fall into that category. I agree that it need to be redefined and studied more but I also think she meant that the PMS can mask underlying symptoms that are actually caused by other things and just made worse by the hormonal fluctuation.I have panic disorder and have had severe depressive episodes and some light manic episodes in the past. At the time I felt like I just lost my marbles for good but afterwards I understood that those were separate things. The depression was caused by childhood traumas(having an ill sibling) and my father passing, they had a clear cause after all. Even the panic disorder makes sense now and I accept it as a part of me. The PMDD which I also have just probably made everything much worse than it needed to be. Imo this is what hormones do, they make the actual depression worse but my PMDD hasn't gone away after I healed from the actual depression some years ago. (I believe one cause of depression is un-dealt grief when the reasons are forgotten along the years but the grief remains) There are some differences to the real causes of these medical issues but it's important to treat the person as a WHOLE which western medicine doesn't seem to like. Instead we get a lot of categorizing people into boxes with diagnoses and stuffing pills down our throats... that's not good enough. It's taking the complexity of mental issues way too simply!
Sorry if this is not relevant to the point of this thread of comments but I felt it necessary to point out that she doesn't actually discount PMS. She stated several reasons PMS as we understand it fails as a medically relevant disorder and goes on to say that the DSM has made the definition, symptoms, and diagnostic criteria more concrete and renamed it PMDD. She also states that a woman may suffer from some symptoms but still not fall within the criteria necessary to be diagnosed with PMDD. This does not mean that the menstrual cycle has little or no effect on mood or mental wellness for women. It most definitely does in a lot of women but to call the effect a mental disorder that requires treatment means that, as she mentioned, the symptoms should be severe enough to disrupt daily life. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that it is a given that all medication comes with a risk to health (hence the list of side effects on the side of the box and the list of do's and do-not's that your doctor has to read through before prescribing the medicine to make sure you don't have anymore risk than necessary).
This is the worst TED talk. The way she presents the information is very misleading and is contributing to the problem. What she said about Asia is downright wrong. We are very much aware of the physiological and emotional issues caused by menstruation. It is definitely in our culture.
Acknowledging the symptoms a lot of women experience and how it affects our lives is not brushing emotions under the PMS rug. I'm so grateful I finally could find a word for what was ruining my life in so many ways, and I had no idea what it was until I was in my late 20's. Once I knew and took care of my needs accordingly, my life changed for the better. And no, men and women don't function the same way, we are in fact very different and in some cases, yes, our hormones have to do with it because of our "infradian" rhythm. We experience this and men don't, and us being different is totally fine.
PMS is not just moodiness. It a syndrome that has psychological and somatic symptoms 1-2 weeks prior to menstruation, similar to those experienced by addicts as opiate withdrawals. I suffer from real, debilitating, painful PMS/PMDD and I agree with this video. It is not that common of a syndrome at all. It's just been marketed as such, so that companies could benefit from a condition that all women share; the menstrual cycle.
This is bs, just going to call it out. The fact that treatments work differently for different people does not mean that the condition they are aiming to treat isn’t real. Is depression not real? Difficulty creating a reliable treatment for a condition cannot be used to imply the condition does not exist. Also, it is not unfeminist to acknowledge this condition. It does not mean that women are irrational or overemotional, it means that we are willing to acknowledge the emotional experiences of individuals with uteruses. If anything, it’s a testament to our strength to persevere in the face of these fluctuations. If life were a video game, we operate on “hard mode” as someone once said it to me. Those who don’t experience this are fortunate, but pretending many of us don’t is harmful.
We were told in the seventies that it was all in our head. We Had to fight to get the pain of menopause and PMS accepted as real. Well I guess we have come full circle now as it's all in our head once again. Love that this woman claims she's a feminist. Good God save us all from this inanity.
I do get really depressed during that time of the month and it's very emotionally painful. Midol/Pamprin do work to bring me back to my center, but so does acetaminophen (Tylenol). We as women need to treat the exact symptoms we are getting instead of looking for cure-alls.
MCWestover Exactly. I can get as far as suicidal before I get my period (like now). I don't think I need someone to tell me what I'm experiencing and what I'm not.
+Nikki Caswell I know exactly what you mean. If I had to live my entire life like those three or four days before my period; if I didn't know that the horrible depression would go away in a few days; if I had to live like that all the time, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have pulled the trigger years ago. It's that bad. My whole body aches like I have the flu, the depression is horrible, yet I am expected to go on and function like normal. Most of the time I make it, sometimes I have to call off work for a day. If she thinks this doesn't exist, she should try our lives for a month or two. She would change her tune.
MWestover I'm so sorry you're suffering from this. Perhaps you could talk to women in Sub Saharan Africa and other poverty-stricken areas of the world, where food and basic hygiene is the priority of most women. Perhaps they could tell you how they manage to avoid PMS altogether.
I'm from an oriental culture. I am affirmative that PMS exists in Asian culture! This woman should do her research before saying the argument that it is unique to western culture. PMS symptoms is genetic, and affected by anxiety, stress, diet, and medication. I can believe that this woman is questioning research with arguments that were not backed up by her own research! PMS is unique to everyone due to the individual differences! This talk really is Stupid! I tracked my mood, body temp, and other stuff for years and concluded that I have PMS.
I'm half Chinese, have spent most of my life growing up in Asia. PMS doesn't exist in Asia, what she means is the negative bullcrap like mood swings and etc. She is right, MZ you is wrong.
i have been crying alot since the week began, and also my period is a week away. So this talk is saying this is not valid. i was wondering why i felt so sad. This tends to happen to me.it exists for alot of women. pms is real stop discounting us.
One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that PMDD comes DURING the period, it's BEFORE. Also I think there is a tendency to blame everything on hormones. People get happy sometimes, and sad some other times, it's life. Emotions are like weather, ever-changing. This isn't to discredit the 3-8% who do suffer it, just that people shouldn't falsely claim or assume.
I can testify that PMDD or PMS or whatever it is I very real for me. I am a very stable and logical person emotionally speaking. But it never fails that one week out of the month I completely fall apart. Depression, Fatigue and irritability are very present. I generally just think I’m having a extra tough week then it hits me that my period is coming. I know it’s connected to my period and my hormones because those symptoms disappear when my period hits. Then the next week I return to normal energy and function. It does feel pretty invalidating to hear other women say that most of us are just blaming our emotions on hormones. I know you don’t mean any harm by that statement and I’m glad you don’t have to experience this yourself. ❤
I can testify that PMDD or PMS or whatever it is I very real for me. I am a very stable and logical person emotionally speaking. But it never fails that one week out of the month I completely fall apart. Depression, Fatigue and irritability are very present. I generally just think I’m having a extra tough week then it hits me that my period is coming. I know it’s connected to my period and my hormones because those symptoms disappear when my period hits. Then the next week I return to normal energy and function. It does feel pretty invalidating to hear other women say that most of us are just blaming our emotions on hormones. I know you don’t mean any harm by that statement and I’m glad you don’t have to experience this yourself. ❤
Well... she's not exactly wrong. Huge amounts of people use those sites and believe them. Now, if she had said "accurate" or "academically sound", that'd be ridiculous.
Cleodel Sure they do, there are also loads of people who visit the website of the flat earth society. That doesn't mean it's a reputable source though.
Sebastiaan van der Heide I think you and I just have a different understanding of the word "reputable". For example, I think christianity as whole is considered a reputable source, even though I personally believe Jesus was probably just this very charismatic guy. However, having a good reputation globally does not mean that it is accurate..
Cleodel Might be, mine is that it has a reputation, but specifically a good reputation. If it's a bad reputation we have enough other words to use and signify that. However what my definition is is irrelevant, here's one that's ripped straight from Google: reputable ˈrɛpjʊtəb(ə)l/ adjective adjective: reputable having a good reputation. "a reputable company" synonyms:well thought of, highly regarded, well respected, respected, respectable, with a good reputation, of repute, of good repute, creditable, esteemed, prestigious, estimable; More Just for fun, here's an article from The New York Times Magazine about them: - www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06FOB-Medium-t.html
Sebastiaan van der Heide Yay, the amazing world of semantics. Thanks for the definition, but alas... l still think WebMD is considered a reputable source by the general population. (Oh, and it's sort of cute how you use dictionaries to police language, by the way. It's nostalgic. What's next? Are you now going to give me a nice example of Godwin's Law?) She works as a researcher, I'm pretty sure she understands the issues with sites like WebMD. Perhaps even more than you do. So go ahead and quit watching TED talks. I'm just saying that I consider your proverbial straw to be a rather flimsy one.
The criticism of the PMS treatments varying from woman to woman invalidating the reality of PMS is an unfair one (If we were to assume that PMS were truly a thing), because people react differently to different things. Some medications for heart disease actually cause increased severity of heart attacks in some people. Does that mean that heart disease doesn't exist?
SangoProductions21 It isnt about whether the illness exists or not, its about whether the treatment is reliably effective or not. Heart medication, say, a blood thinner, must reliably thin the blood of the vast majority of people for it to get through certification. Once it is certified, you know it will reliably thin the blood of basically everyone it is used on, bar the tiny, tiny fraction of the population that have an allergic reaction. A drug working on 99.99% of the population, like your average blood thinner, vs a drug working on 50% of the population isnt even in the same ball park. When one drug is near always reliable, and the other one is a coin toss thats no more reliable than a sugar pill, chances are one of the two is a sugar pill, and I think its a pretty safe bet which one it is
This is true. Have you read Dr. Sinatra's book, The Great Cholesterol Myth? He points out studies the drug co's never mention when pushing statins...men w/ very low cholesterol die sooner.
SangoProductions213 it may not be a revelation to you, but these studies are not chosen to be disclosed when drug reps and pharma pushes statins to get cholesterol REALLY low to help supposedly prevent heart attack...but die sooner statistically. When my dad had open heart surg in 2012 (had normal cholesterol & slender/muscular but was never diagnosed LDL pattern B...BB like, damaging TYPE cholesterol without Niaspan or Niacin to convert to type A), they were prescribing huge satin doses. They have since changed prescribing practices. He felt blue, forgetful, ached all over, bad. The brain is made up largely of cholesterol, so the question is what effect will these meds have over time. Also, statins are worse for women (synthesis of hormones, need cholesterol and harder on them) and should be avoided if possible. B/c of drug co's knowing this and lagging biz for this demographic, Crestor and others have ads PUSHING it to women. "I got my # down w/ Crestor!"...not necessarily good.
Jane Tatum Perhaps people should read up on medication and when they need it before taking it? Vitamin and mineral and so on deficiencies are well-known at this point.
Great presentation. Robyn is well spoken, calm but interesting to listen to, well organized, knowledgeable, and presents excellent reasons to care about the results of a well run PMS/PMDD study. BTW, Robyn did NOT deny there was a syndrome, rather that it is much more limited than drug companies and magazines would have us believe - often for their own gain.
I found it really interesting to try to look at PMS from different standpoints. She gave a clear definition of what PMDD is (DMS) and a percentage of women who experience it. (Not sure how true that percentage is but it still validates the existence of it.) She challenges PMS alone (she steps away from PMDD) as a label and poses the social issues that can arise from doing that. I think that, instead of invalidating women's experience with PMS, DeLuca offers an opportunity to consider PMS in societal terms as an invalidating entity.. and the ways in which the societal adoptions of PMS have manifested further to serve other agendas.
She never denied PMS exists. Perhaps you are some emotional woman not able to understand a well presented lecture (satire, but you get the point). The lecturer is trying to bring out facts to help women be taken seriously, and her calm, rational, statistical analysis makes me think SHE should be taken very seriously, and not just compared to other women, rather all humans.
When a woman has her period she has abdomen cramps and suffers bloodloss! If that is not reason enough to get cranky than I don't know what is. A hormonal disbalance at this time is also scientifcally proven, because your body is preparing to get pregnant every month. I myself also experience backpain or chestpain. Some women do probably exaggerate their symptoms, but it doeasn't mean that they don't exist at all.
Yup. My cramps are so bad that it feels like I'm having the stomach flu. I try my best to keep my composure, but there are times when the pain is so awful that I can't be nice to anyone unless they're offering me pain reliever or food.
Cramps during menstruation is a symptom of not living in a way that is healthy for your reproductive system. Obviously women's bodies are not designed to be in pain every month. What works for me is exercising, and if I slack from it the more I get these symptoms (cramps, heavy bleeding and bla bla). I think diet plays a role too.
KeepCalmAndEatCookies they exist, but this is not a sickness, because menstruation is not a sickness that is why it should not be called a syndrome, the same way that giving birth with pain is no a sickness. For me my menstruation is my healing period, in those moments I let myself feel all what I want and I take my time to heal myself and pamper myself.
wenbiafra I agree with you. It should not be considered a sickness. Its just that in the video she sounded a bit like women are making up all the symptoms that are naturally there during your period.
In Japan, it is said that many women is suffering from PMS and I am one of them. I don’t agree with her insistence that PMS is the symptom which only women in Europe experience.
I really appreciate this talk. I think it's important to keep in mind the definition of PMS/PMDD before getting all worked up. She didn't say no one experiences PMDD. It's a smaller percentage who experience psychological symptoms that are truly related to pre-mentrual period. BUT it's become a catch-all term to mean whatever symptoms you feel before, or even during your period. And this doesn't mean the physical symptoms some women (myself included) experience are not real, they're just not PMS, if you go by the definition she laid out. Yes, you do get cramps, I do. Yes, it makes me a bit cranky, but that's because I'm in pain, not because hormones are messing with my head. Medicine (I just take advil) helps because if you make my leg stop hurting, I'm not in pain and can be happy again. I have been dismissed with "You're just PMS-ing" on a handful of occasions, all of which were during times AFTER my period (within two weeks) and I was legitimately annoyed or angry for reasons not related to hormones. In fact, it's usually the person saying it who is the cause of my emotional outburst, and saying it only makes me angrier for being told what I'm feeling isn't legitimate.
Very good points: there also exists a massive concern of women attributing "PMS" symptoms to what are actually symptoms of endometriosis. It generally takes a ridiculous amount of visits to the gynecologist in order to get this condition diagnosed (if ever) leaving many women without answers and with more cause to write their experiences as "normal." All in all, there must be more questions raised like DeLuca has presented here, these are important issues.
I wish she covered more of the scientific proof and studies covering that PMS is not real. I can believe either side as long as there is support. However, if she's not giving us strong evidence and statistics, then why should we believe her? As a side note, if I were bleeding a lot from my crotch, I'd definitely have mood swings.
She didn't say PMS wasn't real, she (more or less) said that the treatment and understanding of PMS by medical professionals and the public was BS. The BS on the medical side was handled by the DSM renaming PMS pre-menstrual dysphoria disorder (PMDD) and making it actually medically relevant with regards to the criteria used to diagnose it. The BS in the public sector is still an issue and she goes on about it for the rest of the talk. She actually makes a pretty rigorous case considering she only had 15 minutes.
+m0hsalim One of the slides did actually have names of the studies she cited for prevalence rates. I would assume looking at the studies would be a good thing to do if you want to see how strong the evidence is, in terms of sample size, bias, methodology, and so on.
No matters others comments are , i DO THANK YOU to this lady. What i understood her points were(correct me if i am wrong 🥺) those symtoms are real! They do exist! Yes she did agreed those mood swings and others symtoms etc. are REAL!! But the name of PMS or PMDD should not be LABLE on and any of us, women. There are so many reasons mixed up to get us there, the time of the month and BIG money in this thing called PMS. Ladies, i have hard time every month as well but from now on i will not called it PMS or PMDD anymore. I will try to dig to the roots and fix it there. I really wish us all women get rid of all those symtoms Love you all Ladies 💜
I wish we had a discussion on PMS by Dr. Ramani. This is one of the crappiest TED talk on a crucial mental health condition dealt by so many women across the world. I could literally sense the high emotional state of mind l experience every month as soon as ovulation starts and this woman says its experienced by men and dogs? Putting men and dogs together in itself is extremely derogatory and demeaning a genuine issue like that is all the more humiliating for those women who experience it.
This is absolutely the worst ted talk I have ever heard and a bad agreement in general. I'm amazed at how someone can publicly invalidate something just because they themselves do not experience it or bc science has not quiet figured out how to accurately measure and treat it. If you can aspect that drinking coffee (caffeine) can have an effect on your mood, then why can't people accept that drastic hormonal inflections in women throughout the month can effect mood with the same or greater intensity. Do big businesses exploit the situation, of course like with anything else that they can make money off of. But don't invalidate the condition because profit hungry businesses exaggerate it and sell to every women who feels any negative emotion. I believe this woman and many others demanding equality between men and women have some sort of complex. Penis envy or something. WE ARE DIFFERENT!!! You don't see men walking around complaining that they don't get to push out babies. What we should be promoting is acceptance, tolerance, and genuine value for our difference, not the idea that we don't have symptoms related to the processes that brings us all here and are therefor somehow the same as men. Lastly, I've known very few women in my life who have denied and not displayed mood related symptoms related to PMS. Both PMS and/or PMDD are real for the vast majority of women during some season of their lives. PS. Aside from PMS men and women have different hormonal make up. Most women are more emotional than most men. Generally speaking, we will lead differently as a result. We need to learn to accept that, not ignore it, and still value female leadership.
+Jun Gemi You're just upset because someone just told you there's no scientific basis for your bullshit. You're upset that you have to hold it in and be polite like men. Grow up, be an adult and stop polluting the world with your negative energy. Be like a man who holds it in for the sake of being polite and thoughtful, apparently women can't change from being assholes.
"I'm amazed at how someone can publicly invalidate something just because they themselves do not experience" "Lastly, I've known very few women in my life who have denied and not displayed mood related symptoms related to PMS." I thought you decided that experiences don't count though? Also, there's seriously no evidence that women are more emotional than men. Men are often discouraged from displaying emotion, which makes it seem like they're less emotional. And I can't even take you seriously if you mention penis envy. That's not a thing.
where is she talking about the breast pain before the periods, nausea where you feel like throwing up even the water, what about joints pain? What about abdomen and lower back pain before periods? What about unwanted severe acne before and during periods? Pms include all this as well. Pms is not only irritability and being depressed.
So... are we saying that when she acts like that she doesn't have the excuse of PMS? Because... then that means she's just being a jerk for no reason. Thanks science.
I was about to make this exact comment more or less. I'm like, 95% sure there was some kind of crime committed by a woman and she got off the hook by claiming PMS affecting her behavior. Now it makes ya wonder...
SergeantKozi Exactly, this person suggests that it is men that dismiss women as having PMS when often as not women are claiming that they're not responsible for their behavior because of PMS. Believe us ladies, we'd be much happier if we could actually hold you accountable for bad behavior the same way men are held accountable. I really doubt many women understand how much special treatment they get all time for a lot of different reasons. Women have NO idea what it is like to be a man. We get no slack for anything. When I was growing up, my mother would frequently freak out for no reason and scream at everyone. And it wasn't just the men of the house that thought she was acting like a nut, my sister thought she was being crazy as well. My father would sit there and just take it. He'd sit there and wait for it to end. He wouldn't leave unless she wanted him to and he wouldn't say anything because she wasn't interested in anyone saying anything. She just wanted to scream and she felt entitled to make everyone around her miserable FOR HOURS. Guess how often my father did that? Never. Not once. With my mother, at least once a week. Typically she'd do it on a Sunday night because she'd get all stressed out before going to work. I love my mother. I love my father. But there are some massive entitlement issues with women in this country. And to suggest that YOUR entitlement issues are the fault of males... then way to go yet again not taking responsibility for anything including your own crappy behavior. It isn't just men that have to take responsibility or change or check their privilege or whatever stupid term people come up with... women have to change as well. There were some perks that went along with the old social contract and really given that you keep insisting that you be treated equally, at some point you're going to have to give those up. And when that happens, you're in for a rude shock. Do you know how men respond to other men whining about their feelings? They laugh at them. So... look forward to that future.
Or, on the flip side, that men can't claim women are irrational or upset due to hormones, so it is no longer an excuse not to have women in positions of authority. (Also, sounds like your mother may have actually had something else, like depression/bipolar disorder/anger management issues, to be honest. It would have probably been in her favour to actually have help (instead of people saying, "Oh she's just a woman"). Oh, and was she both working *and* taking care of the housework?).
It’s hard to monitor psychological symptoms, but I certainly think we should learn how to manage them, PMS or not. I find my moods pms are way more emotional and anxious, including panic attacks. How about some more research 🔬
I have PMS which according to this is PMDD now. To be honest I have been annoyed when female friends have complained about far less symptoms and talked about PMS (usually they mean their periods, not PRE-menstrual syndrome). Anyway, I still don't think most women are being douches. I think it's just that periods can be uncomfortable and painful. Maybe it's more like being a little ill and still having to function as if you weren't. It can stress anyone and make them irritable. Also it can make you more sensitive to your other underlying health issues like tension neck, food intolerances etc. Mostly I haven't seen it stopping these women from functioning whereas mine have sort of been ruining my life since forever. I'm sure some use it as a crutch too and I know many women who have no symptoms and who are very happy with it. In fact these are the majority of my female friends! This is my experience. This TED talk sounds reasonable. This is most likely a step into a positive direction with the issue becoming more defined as more research is done. She isn't wrong about how PMS being so loosely defined has affected people like me who actually have it pretty bad. It's NOT taken seriously. I've also felt like less of a person because of the negative stigma & womens emotions being belittled because "it's just PMS" which made me try to hide mine even when it causes me serious mood disturbances and hiding your depressive episodes is nothing but detrimental to your mental well-being but I was so ashamed or being labeled a "PMS woman" since mine weren't that funny at all. Even gynecologists don't take it that seriously and there actually doesn't exist any exact treatments for it because it hasn't been studied or defined. Birth control just doesn't fix it nor do SSRI's or even antipsychotics in my case. I'm personally sure it is a hormonal issue or my body's "allergic" reaction to my own hormones. An immune response if you will. There really needs to be a more precise hormonal/anti-pain medicine directed at PMDD but there just isn't. Birth control wasn't developed for PMDD but it's the main "treatment" we have right now. For the longest time I felt like nobody even cared but this news brings some hope. It won't please everyone right now with the headlines going for the sensational "PMS DOESN'T EXIST YO" but it's going to get better from here.
I feel that you intentionally ignored MANY facts and information just to make your point look right, therefore I am hesitant to trust anything you say. The method of testing is -for the lack of a better word- unpractical, you asked the woman to report their feelings themselves, I believe it's common knowledge that people don't know when they are behaving differently, people around them do, what you did is like asking a mental patient if he is crazy (I'm not comparing or claiming women are mentally ill, don't twist my words please), do you think he will answer with yes? of course not. Mood swings and irrationality are Real. Anyone who lived with a female human being will confirm that by observation, ANYONE male or female observer. If hormones change mood will change, it's proven science don't try to get around it. 3:58 is simply wrong, PMS is known all over the world, including China and the Middle east since thousands of years. I know she had a Ph.D in what she does and I don't, but we all have functioning brains that can analyze information too, no Ph.D needed.
"The method of testing is unpractical"; She's the Ph.D. Perhaps you should review her methods, then argue why alternative methods would be better. She references 5 studies with similar conclusions. Are the individuals who conducted those studies and those who reviewed them for publication, know less than you? Are their methods less sophisticated and accurate to test their hypothesis than yours? "Mood swings and irrationality are real"; she's not arguing that they are not. She and others have done work to show that these mood changes are not due to PMS. Only 1%-8% of those suffering those symptoms are actually attributed to PMS. "It's proven science don't try to get around it"; this statement puts the onus on you to provide evidence to the contrary. Otherwise this statement is meaningless. "I know she had a Ph.D in what she does and I don't" Sorry, yes, she is a professional. You may reference another professional who thinks otherwise, but your opinion on its own is of less value than hers. You shouldn't discard a claim 'just because', at least reference why you believe otherwise.
I experience back pain, muscular pain, at least 2 times a month for days at a time. Is it ok for me to take out my frustrations and anger out on my girlfriend?
p.s premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is different. It causes emotional and physical symptoms, like PMS, but women with PMDD find their symptoms debilitating, and they often interfere with their daily lives, including work, school, social life, and relationships.
I don't know how I was able to finish listening to this presentation. I have learned that women are unable to relate to the anguish and psychological distress associated with menstrual pain if they do not experience it. Midol and Pamprin does not help! This is my personal experience. I cannot believe this is an actual TED Talk presentation. They allowed this woman to come here to belittle and dismiss women who suffer from PMS and PMDD. They need to pull down this presentation.
Ok, I might have to watch this one again because all week symptoms have been horrible! If Aunt Flow don't show up this 😤 week. I think I am going to go off on EVERYBODY by next week! Then when she show up late cause I aint Mary but we all know how things work. I will spend the next 2 weeks apologizing to everyone who was kind enough not to curse me out or try to 💓 my a**
Sad state of affairs that I clicked this thinking it would be an exercise in doublethink and stupidity to justify PMS as a get-out-of-agency free card. Thank you for proving me completely wrong on that assumption.
Its true that some cultures dont have PMS. Sometimes its all in the mind and social conditioning to believe that something is wrong. I think it depends on diet, exercise, relationships, good air quality, doing positive things, absorbing the sun, nutrition, etc.
I think there's scientific evidence backing up PMS now with hormones being released during the stage before a period starts causing the mood swings, depression, and anxiety. But considering this comment was 7 years ago I think you understand now.
@Commodore1236 "what you did is like asking a mental patient if he is crazy (I'm not comparing or claiming women are mentally ill, don't twist my words please), do you think he will answer with yes?" Actually, in a majority of cases, people do realize that something is wrong with them. I think it is just a cultural myth that "crazy people don't know they're crazy". Perhaps stemming from manic episodes or psychotic breaks, where that could *possibly* be the case?
My hormones are all kinds of fucked up thanks to my PCOS and I still have yet to experience PMS. So, there's that. I'm really not surprised that PMS doesn't exist outside of Western cultures. Expectation and attitude towards something have a huge influence on its outcome.
Yeah it's nonexistent in Asia. Asian women are either moody all the time or not. It has nothing to do with their period. Some women even got nicer around that time!
Great talk. It's time to dispel the myth that all women are doomed to irritability & irrationality that they cannot control, due to the simple fact of their hormones. This is harmful to young women, who view menstruation as a punishment; men, who identify "PMS-ing" women as incompetent; and people who suffer actual mental illnesses, who fail to identify truly troubling symptoms and go undiagnosed and untreated. As usual, the comments section on a TED video about female issues is disappointing.
No. Sorry, you might not experience this but I do. Pms is a real thing. When i'm close to my period I almost always become suicidal. It happens before my period. It happens no other time. PMDD is a severe and disabling form of PMS that is a mental disorder and should be treated seriously. When you say PMS and PMDD are not real, the women who suffer with these things are invalidated. Stop spreading the stigma that these things aren't real, and start legitimizing and supporting women who deal with them. Change the stigma around PMS and PMDD. Not all women deal with it, but don't make it harder for those who do.
You're one of the lucky ones apparently who doesn't have the misfortune of suffering from pms, yet alone severe pms called pmdd which I do have and I can tell you along with many other sufferers its 100% hormonal related and very painful. Something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. And because of the lack of awareness out there on this issue along with misleading Ted talks like this, it sadly takes yrs of suffering to get a diagnosis or even find doctors that acknowledge it & treat it.
Would love to see a correlation between PMDD and BAP. Additionally every woman not on hormones has a cycle with clear differences from one week to the next.
If she had just walked on stage simply to say it that way or created a quickie post about how not enough research is being done then not enough people would sit and listen. They would mix the information with theirs too and create a whole different set of assumptions. At least I would think so lol could be wrong.
This is so ridiculous. Basically this woman is telling us that the depression, anxiety, exhaustion, pain ad discomfort nearly all women of reproductive age have to deal with is all in our heads.
The thing is that PMS is NOT exclusively psychological symptoms. It has also been used as an acronym to describe the physical symptoms a woman experiences. Headaches, craps, bloating, breast pain, all of these are real, occur before the cycle, but not after. The pain can certainly cause depression, and anxiety can stem from "how heavy will my period be" to "OMG, am I pregnant? Will I even have a cycle?". EVERY woman experiences some sort of discomfort or discomfiture during her cycle. While it isn't necessarily PMDD or another "psychological disorder", it is real and occurs frequently, although symptoms can change over time, growing better or worse depending on many factors.
bcgrote Yeah I think "PMS" has always been an easy way to describe a collection of symptoms whether it was actually PMS or not.I get that the periods themselves can be such a pain that anyone would get anxious, irritated and depressed just for that. I have to make a differeniation where my PMDD anxiety and depression seem to come from nowhere before physical symptoms appear. They just begin on the spot when the estrogen spike happens about a week before the period. I get the same response from birth control which is pretty much the same hormones so it makes sense to me that this reaction is caused by just the hormones.
veryangrypigeon Right! I was fortunate to not have many symptoms for most of my life. But now I'm on the pill for hormone control, and I have the WORST symptoms! My poor husband, he knows when my period is coming, I have one day where I get pretty gnarly! Mostly knowing your body is the best way to help. Lots of medicines are ok, she disses Midol, but caffeine opens blood vessels, which helps with pain, it isn't just for waking up! And there are herbal remedies and massage and acupuncture that help too.
bcgrote Aye, I can't seem to get relief from meds. Aside from taking lots of NSAID's which clears my head a bit. Apparently it somehow lowers some hormone levels but it's just a band-aid.Mine explodes during just one day too and it's downhill from there until periods. Agreed, getting to know your body and yourself is currently my no1 treatment too. I try to be forgiving with myself when I suddenly fail at everything and a low fodmap diet and some excercise before the periods brings some relief and reduces the building anxiety. Wow. For some reason coffee helps me too. It even clears migraines for me. Doesn't always work but it's one of my go-to's as well even tho my doc recommended against it! (Sleep cycle also goes belly-up before periods) It's always a struggle to get out and do these pre-emptive things before periods when your whole body is suddenly against it lol.
Just because you have an opinion contrary to the popular one doesn't make you smart. Your arguments are baseless . Sometimes there are things that doctors cannot explain. You are putting down a lot of women through your not so smart arguments.
Hey 'dr.'.......instead of talking about lucky women without PMDD ..how about you talk about the fact of life of the ones who has it??????????? For like...20 years????This is really bad 'fact' talk....Women without it has less empathy for the women with PMS or PMDD than a man toward than women!!! Weird!!!!!!!!
You cannot discount PMS, or even put a figure on it like that if there isnt even consensus on a definition. I can tell you now, that anacdotal evidence may be sketchy, but monthly, utterly predictive anacdotes kind of build evidence over time. I can tell, every single month, when my wife gets pms, to the hour. Always 5 to 7 days before her period. Its very real for her, and the periods themselves can be debilitating pain. I just get out the house as much as I can that first few days!
I wonder how many people actually take midol for emotional and mental symptoms. I personally suffer from terrible pain and midol (or the combination of acetaminophen and caffeine) is the only thing that helps the pain. Still, am very glad to hear that emotional PMS isn't as prevalent as pop-culture makes it out to be.
This woman is in flat out denial not only denial but she's dangerous because she believes her own lies. PMS exists and so does PMDD so does a strange mastitis that happens one week out of the month for certain women who have never breast fed or had babies. This may make for a small number of women but that does not mean these women or their severe symptoms are invalid.
Heck yes it does!!! I'm pmsing right now and if she was in front of me id be happy to explain it to her! She has no dam clue! I have kept a log!! For years and it's REAL!!!!! 😡😡😡😡😡😡
Connie Beth Its for REAL and so are women who can't notice a difference at all. This needs to be recognized that there is no absolute. I'm totally pmsing right now too. Lots of potassium helps my mood and so does raw cocoa.
+Hope Community She didn't say it doesn't exist. Or at least, that's not what she meant. Her main point on its existence was that its prevalence in a form *that is severe enough to be considered a mental disorder* is much lower than what most people believe. It was something like 3-8% prevalence. That's a lot more than 0. And of course, there can also be a much larger proportion of the demographic that suffers more mild effects not classified as PMDD.
Personally I never got pms but was always told I should have it so kinda just went along with that belief. I definitely feel really tearful and generally run down during my period. But not a week before. But if you think about it with pms if your told enough times that you are something or that you feel something eventually you’ll assume its true.
I'm sorry but this doesn't seem to be taken serious. I suffer from PMS for about 8-10 years and i've read a lot about herbs, vitamins and minerals and this syndrome is being referred to regularly. I'm quite a bit disappointed in Tedx.
Big mouth incorrecter. PMS has many factor. so that use syndrome. Perhaps she does not know about Adrenal Fatigue, Hypoferric anemia,hypoglycemia. Many women are prescribed antidepressants that are ineffective in psychiatry for years. PMS is rare? Wrong. Psychiatry can not cure. Nutrition and exercise, hormonal balance is important. What she wants to say? I DON'T LIKE MEN. Happy to the women who really suffer.
Me in the first minute.... “I already hate this, but it’s a TedTalk, I’ll give it a try.” Me after the video: “This is a flagrant slap in the face to women who go through serious fluctuation in hormones and thought patterns. Do not demean the many women who struggle to get through the psychological torture of this time of month, by trying to encapsulate it within a 15 minute segment.” This is one of the most logical yet ignorant speeches I have ever heard.
Why women are urging of being a "good women"? Why an out-of-controlled-man can get forgiveness, but a women can't? It's not fair. Men and women are both human. We all have the right to express our feelings (not offensive, of course). Sorry for my poor english.
I get PMS very bad because every other month I must take progesterone to induce my period because I have pcos (produce too much testosterone) I do gain about 5-10 lbs , I get very grumpy, cramps, days before my cycle and i get depressed . None of these symptoms go away until my last day of my cycle oh and I can't forget the breast swelling and tenderness and extreme irritability
My anecdotal experience has been the opposite of what DeLuca poses : the "angry beast" appeared every month exactly 1 day before menstruation started. The "high emotional and professional functioning" mentioned here manifested itself as lunatic attempts to destroy everything positive about our marriage. Back to the drawing board...
Self reporting is a totally unreliable method of detecting the presence or severity of irrationality or mood swings. With that foundation for these studies, they're basically worthless.
I feel like PMS is used as an excuse by both men and women to act like idiots some women " I'm gonna eat six bars of chocolate in one sitting and yell at my kids. its not my fault, it's PMS". some men: "My crazy PMS wife yelled at me for not cleaning the garage in four months and leaving the toilet seat up for the third time this week" Women use it as an excuse to act emotional; and men use it as an excuse for why women are upset with their stupid behavior
I feel like this talk had the opposite effect she'd hope for. .. couple that with the women's responses in the comments and it just seems to confirm my growing understanding of how emotionally driven women's thinking is... Any time.
Many people misunderstood her. I don't see that she is telling that women don't feel different in that period of the month, she is criticising that society always classify as sickness something that is normal to women. It is just how we are. Embrace your period with all your feelings, it is not a sickness it is just a healing an cleaning of the soul.
wenbiafra is that what she meant? I didn't hear it that way. Terrible that a TED talk could be so misunderstood. That's her fault though. I hope you're right. If you're right, then I agree, it would be great if it was considered the norm & was accepted that many women have significant & difficult to handle mood changes throughout the month related to their cycle
Pms is real. This video is dismissive. Now feminism is against an actual hormonal phenomenon. Bloat, sore nipples, water weight gain, fatigue is all pms it's not just a freaking mental disorder. Who wouldn't be irritable while experiencing the above?!
PMS doesn't have to be a diagnosable mental disorder to be real. You just take away the language we have to describe it when you say it's not a real thing. PMDD is the severe form of PMS that is diagnosable. Most women do experience symptoms before their period so lets not invalidate that because it doesn't fit the clinical criteria for the severe version.
It's the "not knowing" when the dreaded thing will strike , at work, during sleep, while doing dishes, that makes a person dysphoric. Probably not hormones in my logical mind.
I found this interesting and it had good points. But as someone who has pms/pmdd I find this saddening because I don't see any good news about pms is here and judging from the comments, most people who come here are people who are seeking relief from their symptoms. I don't get the typical irritable and angry pms. Mine is quiet and sad. It makes me pretty inconsistent in what I'm like and I feel like life is tough and overwhelming 😢 there are so many things I'm interested in but for 2 weeks I'd rather play Sims and get absorbed in unhealthy habits and food. I have a irregular period so my mind can't even jinx me into the symptoms as I never know when they will come on.
I think it is not related to the nation. I am from Iran and I know when I am crying without any reason while I am eating a piece of cake it is because of PMS. And all wemon talk about PMS in my country. I think we know our feelings
Every single time I feel irritated/angry with no real reason, I immediately check the calendar to see if I'm pms-ing and I am (around week before the menstruation - not before and not after!). With all due respect, dear Ms DeLuca, please do your research before you stand up in front of people and make fool of yourself :) I'm from across the black sea - women pms-ing over there too ;)
She reeks of feminism, but at least isn't an evangelical "I hate man" type of feminist. And, good to know that we finally have a good definition for PMS or PMDD. Of course, I'm not fact checking this, as I don't really care to, but it seems reasonable enough.
I jst saw this as a reference on pms and am very surprised by the comments here. First of all to those stating "what is a psychologist doing talking about a biological issue" u obviously don't know about psychobiology. Plus the symptoms that are mentioned like depression mood swing and anxiety are all psychological so please have same respect for the educated woman who seems to have spent her life researching this and is talking on ted based on those facts. Secondly she didn't say that pms doesn't exist at all she was merely referring to the idea that society has about all women having pms and who's to gain from these falsely reported statistics that the magazines were reporting. Am a woman and ya I do experience same physiological changes near my cycle but it's certainly doesn't mean I have a disorder or that every emotion I feel is explained by my hormonal changes.
This is untrue. I have a girl, and she even says herself, a week after, that she was totally wrong in that week about anything. Overthinking, overemotional. She hated she broke up many times, and later came back. she says she cannot help it. And it always happens at the same week in a month. How is PMS not a thing then. When women themselves agree it is happening.
I mean, pms is fairly straightforward and not some kind of mystical phenomenon. Hormones affect us a great deal and few days before periods we have a big crash in estrogen and progesterone. The impact of a drop in these hormones is fairly studied. Those who take contraceptive are supplementing these hormones (especially the mini pill) so they dont have pms as bad. How many women were on natural cycles in your study ?
I suffer from PMS, or rather the symptoms that precedes periods. Some months are worse than others. And I get (I am just not throwing in the word as though it is a light thing) suicidal thoughts which I -normally-don't-- ( as though the time before my period is an abnormal occurrence) don't at other times. I know for sure that the week before my period is a gloomy sad time even if I know for a fact that I need not be sad. Instead what I wish is the time, PMS or whatever it should be called, not be seen as a weakness, as some kind of disease that needs cure. I would rather describe this time as a struggle than call it symptom. Can we not cultivate a different outlook to periods and the emotional ups and downs that accompanying it?
As a gay person that didn't watch this video i find it incredibly offensive and religious. This type of behavior can not be tolerated because of the Hitler like message it portrays. P.S. I hate my PMS cycle
As someone who was diagnosed with PMDD, and only achieved diagnosis after journalling my symptoms for over a year...I can tell you that the struggle is real, yo. Seriously. Zoloft saved my life, and my marriage. My symptoms became so severe, right before my cycle would start, that I would regularly contemplate suicide because I couldn't deal with the anxiety, depression and mood swings. Actually starting my cycle would bring such sweet relief, that I would cry with joy. Being on a low dose of Zoloft, every day, has helped me regain myself, and the difference is amazing.
BeyondTheBath1 Good to hear you found some relief. Sounds a bit excessive that you had to journal for a year. I can relate to the symptoms. That struggle is very real indeed.
veryangrypigeon I didn't *have* to journal for a year, but it helped to plead my case with my MD. I was journalling symptoms for something else, too (migraines), but having a solid year of symptoms that I could refer back to really solidified my case...and when I showed my MD how drastically things had changed after starting Zoloft, we were both astonished.
Ah I see. =)
Zoloft helped me as well i could say it saved my life. I was diagnosed with PMDD over two years ago but before that i struggled with it for years before i ever knew that what i was feeling was a real thing and that it had a name. The struggle is real and zoloft saved me. This woman seems to me like she hasn't ever experienced PMDD so how can she have a opinion on the subject? I know what i felt and what i felt was real!
Ashley Ryan That’s fantastic! Did Zoloft give you any side effects?
Yeah... I don't think I need someone to tell me what exists and what does not. Like some others here, I suffer from increased irritability and at times even suicidal a week prior to menstruation, which I would not exaggerate let alone want to go through.
Me too... this video provoced me. As I am actually "pms-ing" at the moment...
@@veronikamachova7426 I would love to know more about that, could we have a chat maybe?
i think xuz she didnt encounter those over irritate or even suicidal actually i never suffered from pms
and i think what she wants to say is that the exaggerated claims neednt to exist
i think you need a help maybe your suicidal disposition prior to menstruation can be reduced when taking some medical treatment
I usually enjoy TedTalks, but I think this is the worst I've ever heard. Many women have actual PMS. I know when my emotions are being affected by hormonal changes. I can feel it. My logical brain will be thinking, "This commercial shouldn't make you cry," yet tears are rolling down my cheeks nonstop. Her argument shouldn't be, "Women are lying. PMS doesn't exist." It should be, "We need more efficient and effective research in this area."
Well, she DID say that not all but 3-8% of women do experience PMS and if you feel in that way then maybe you are among those 3-8 % of people... but it's just that she is saying that nowadays everyone uses it as an excuse to deal with their problems so before blaming on our hormones we should try analyzing our problems and find a proper solutions for it, that's all :)
Shan, I used to say the same thing! But check yourself. Do you ever cry at a commercial when you aren't near your period? Because I started realizing that I'm just kinda an empathetic person. Like this Ted Talks lady says, when you reflect back, you go, "oh I'm crying because of PMS," but if you kept a daily log, I bet you would see that you are just sensitive to certain types of commercials/situations regardless of your cycle. :)
I was thinking the same thing, yesterday I finally decided to see a health professional, because two days before every menstruation, I become a different person, I become a very weak person, and you can imaging my behaviour with my family!
Her argument isn’t that women are lying tho. Her argument is that there is no good research and it’s not well defined. She’s saying that media and miss information is making millions of women think they have a some “mental disorder”. it’s that women are being told they have a mental disorder when they don’t.
Shan Howard that’s exactly what I thought when i finished watching this wrong speach. It seems like she hasn’t done her research correctly at all.. plus there’s an effective treatment with a logical theory about it, done by Dr. Jorge Lolas
WARNING!!! Do not watch this while having PMS!!!
Too late.
yeah too late... it actually made me cry
Well ...I wanna cuss her out for dismissing my sore boobs, fatigue, sensitivity, and increase in libido. Pms is absolutely real
Too late . It made me angry
I am from The Netherlands, and PMS is not only mentally. But very much fysically. Why not take the 8 % serieusly? So please focus your next research on these 8%, and help!!
Fysically?
Is it so difficult to guess what she tries to say? Are we in an English spelling exam?
What about pmdd
Pms is experienced by 30-75% of women
Pmdd is more rare
Periods and PMS were never the same thing folks! PRE-Menstrual Syndrome begins a WEEK BEFORE period. Usually. Not a few days before or during period. Period is just period and that's a different monster.
Just noticed several comments not realizing the distinction. Women complaining about periods aren't experiencing PMS.
well said, am scared of the notorious PMS than the blood flow.
indeed! sometimes even 10 days before...
a week before and a few days before are literally the same thing.
@@sierra5726 Exactly
If you are making the decision that PMS/PMDD isn't real based on the level of evidence presented, it would be foolish. I feel confused and invalidated by this TED talk.
feel the same
the same note, what a shame that a scientific women call PMS "a Myth".
Whether PMS is real or not. I think everyone can agree that something happens to the body physically and mentally a week before period. And I think PMS is just a name for it, I don't understand why it wouldn't be considered real
@@fbiagent3998 It's real and scientific.
I can certainly verify that there is PMS outside western nations, I'm Chinese and soooo many Chinese women have it.
"nearly unheard of outside western nations" she said, not less experienced or non existant outside WN
@@sheeshwoof she's still wrong. I am an african woman that moved to the USA and we hear a lot about pms in Africa. In fact we talk about it more than here in the USA
In my experience Chinese culture considers all mental issues to be caused by nutritional deficiencies. Combine this with the cultural habit that women are the undisputed master at the home, and the natural taboo that women have talking about this issue, it is only logical that this issue "does not exist" in Chinese society.
I track my period on apps.
when I’m down for no reasons, I started thinking “why”, and check the app. It’s usually 5-6 days before period starts. PMS does exist. Women work hard by trying to forget what it is, try not to be emotional. It’s very hard for women. This video doesn’t support this unfortunately.
Seeing as I'm never suicidal until my period I definitely don't think I'm "believing in myths". This is the dumbest Ted Talk. I know I have PMDD.
Yes, exactly, this is horrible to spread out.
I know, what is this bullshit? My girlfriend is a very happy person.... until a few days before her period, where she thinks the great life she usually enjoys is utter garbage and nothing is enjoyable anymore.
@@jacobmaccormack9162 I really love how you care a lot about your girlfriend and notice the changes in her during this tough stage of every woman's life that keeps reappearing over and over again. God bless.
@@61subsandnovideos it's literally the bare minimum
Glad I read these comments before commiting to watch this.
I think she brings up some incredibly reputable and important points in this talk but fully discounting PMS is so wrong. As a sufferer of Depression and Anxiety I have had to keep a number of "mood journals" and many times I've been able to identify a fluctuation in mood (my mother and partner can vouch) the week before and during my menstruation which leads me to believe that PMS is most definitely a symptom of hormonal changes in the menstrual cycle. However, not ALL women do suffer these symptoms! And furthermore, she is absolutely right about the mistreatment of prescription drug use for PMS and how these pharmaceutical companies are wreaking the benefits from women’s assumptions that they have PMS. And yes, the equality between genders is so relevant in a talk like this.
Ella Fay Agreed, it's kinda hurtful to discount the whole of PMS when a lot of women currently fall into that category. I agree that it need to be redefined and studied more but I also think she meant that the PMS can mask underlying symptoms that are actually caused by other things and just made worse by the hormonal fluctuation.I have panic disorder and have had severe depressive episodes and some light manic episodes in the past. At the time I felt like I just lost my marbles for good but afterwards I understood that those were separate things. The depression was caused by childhood traumas(having an ill sibling) and my father passing, they had a clear cause after all. Even the panic disorder makes sense now and I accept it as a part of me. The PMDD which I also have just probably made everything much worse than it needed to be. Imo this is what hormones do, they make the actual depression worse but my PMDD hasn't gone away after I healed from the actual depression some years ago. (I believe one cause of depression is un-dealt grief when the reasons are forgotten along the years but the grief remains) There are some differences to the real causes of these medical issues but it's important to treat the person as a WHOLE which western medicine doesn't seem to like. Instead we get a lot of categorizing people into boxes with diagnoses and stuffing pills down our throats... that's not good enough. It's taking the complexity of mental issues way too simply!
Sorry if this is not relevant to the point of this thread of comments but I felt it necessary to point out that she doesn't actually discount PMS. She stated several reasons PMS as we understand it fails as a medically relevant disorder and goes on to say that the DSM has made the definition, symptoms, and diagnostic criteria more concrete and renamed it PMDD. She also states that a woman may suffer from some symptoms but still not fall within the criteria necessary to be diagnosed with PMDD. This does not mean that the menstrual cycle has little or no effect on mood or mental wellness for women. It most definitely does in a lot of women but to call the effect a mental disorder that requires treatment means that, as she mentioned, the symptoms should be severe enough to disrupt daily life. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that it is a given that all medication comes with a risk to health (hence the list of side effects on the side of the box and the list of do's and do-not's that your doctor has to read through before prescribing the medicine to make sure you don't have anymore risk than necessary).
Ella Fay you are brainwashed by patriarchal European culture, celebrate your body
This is the worst TED talk. The way she presents the information is very misleading and is contributing to the problem.
What she said about Asia is downright wrong. We are very much aware of the physiological and emotional issues caused by menstruation. It is definitely in our culture.
Acknowledging the symptoms a lot of women experience and how it affects our lives is not brushing emotions under the PMS rug. I'm so grateful I finally could find a word for what was ruining my life in so many ways, and I had no idea what it was until I was in my late 20's. Once I knew and took care of my needs accordingly, my life changed for the better. And no, men and women don't function the same way, we are in fact very different and in some cases, yes, our hormones have to do with it because of our "infradian" rhythm. We experience this and men don't, and us being different is totally fine.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
She mentions these studies about men and women but never really talk about them in depth.
PMS is not just moodiness. It a syndrome that has psychological and somatic symptoms 1-2 weeks prior to menstruation, similar to those experienced by addicts as opiate withdrawals.
I suffer from real, debilitating, painful PMS/PMDD and I agree with this video. It is not that common of a syndrome at all. It's just been marketed as such, so that companies could benefit from a condition that all women share; the menstrual cycle.
This is bs, just going to call it out. The fact that treatments work differently for different people does not mean that the condition they are aiming to treat isn’t real. Is depression not real? Difficulty creating a reliable treatment for a condition cannot be used to imply the condition does not exist.
Also, it is not unfeminist to acknowledge this condition. It does not mean that women are irrational or overemotional, it means that we are willing to acknowledge the emotional experiences of individuals with uteruses. If anything, it’s a testament to our strength to persevere in the face of these fluctuations. If life were a video game, we operate on “hard mode” as someone once said it to me.
Those who don’t experience this are fortunate, but pretending many of us don’t is harmful.
Hey lady I have PMDD and is a nightmare. WTF are you talking about!!
We were told in the seventies that it was all in our head. We Had to fight to get the pain of menopause and PMS accepted as real. Well I guess we have come full circle now as it's all in our head once again. Love that this woman claims she's a feminist. Good God save us all from this inanity.
I do get really depressed during that time of the month and it's very emotionally painful. Midol/Pamprin do work to bring me back to my center, but so does acetaminophen (Tylenol). We as women need to treat the exact symptoms we are getting instead of looking for cure-alls.
MCWestover Exactly. I can get as far as suicidal before I get my period (like now). I don't think I need someone to tell me what I'm experiencing and what I'm not.
+Nikki Caswell I know exactly what you mean. If I had to live my entire life like those three or four days before my period; if I didn't know that the horrible depression would go away in a few days; if I had to live like that all the time, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have pulled the trigger years ago. It's that bad. My whole body aches like I have the flu, the depression is horrible, yet I am expected to go on and function like normal. Most of the time I make it, sometimes I have to call off work for a day. If she thinks this doesn't exist, she should try our lives for a month or two. She would change her tune.
same here! If it's a myth then it's a monthly one! :)
MWestover I'm so sorry you're suffering from this. Perhaps you could talk to women in Sub Saharan Africa and other poverty-stricken areas of the world, where food and basic hygiene is the priority of most women. Perhaps they could tell you how they manage to avoid PMS altogether.
@@deborahbarr7329 Same here... I didn't know about this until last year and my life had been shattered by it for years,
I'm from an oriental culture. I am affirmative that PMS exists in Asian culture! This woman should do her research before saying the argument that it is unique to western culture. PMS symptoms is genetic, and affected by anxiety, stress, diet, and medication. I can believe that this woman is questioning research with arguments that were not backed up by her own research! PMS is unique to everyone due to the individual differences! This talk really is Stupid! I tracked my mood, body temp, and other stuff for years and concluded that I have PMS.
I'm half Chinese, have spent most of my life growing up in Asia. PMS doesn't exist in Asia, what she means is the negative bullcrap like mood swings and etc. She is right, MZ you is wrong.
Exactly, MZ!
This video is giving me PMS
i have been crying alot since the week began, and also my period is a week away. So this talk is saying this is not valid. i was wondering why i felt so sad. This tends to happen to me.it exists for alot of women. pms is real stop discounting us.
One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that PMDD comes DURING the period, it's BEFORE. Also I think there is a tendency to blame everything on hormones. People get happy sometimes, and sad some other times, it's life. Emotions are like weather, ever-changing. This isn't to discredit the 3-8% who do suffer it, just that people shouldn't falsely claim or assume.
I can testify that PMDD or PMS or whatever it is I very real for me. I am a very stable and logical person emotionally speaking. But it never fails that one week out of the month I completely fall apart. Depression, Fatigue and irritability are very present. I generally just think I’m having a extra tough week then it hits me that my period is coming. I know it’s connected to my period and my hormones because those symptoms disappear when my period hits. Then the next week I return to normal energy and function. It does feel pretty invalidating to hear other women say that most of us are just blaming our emotions on hormones. I know you don’t mean any harm by that statement and I’m glad you don’t have to experience this yourself. ❤
I can testify that PMDD or PMS or whatever it is I very real for me. I am a very stable and logical person emotionally speaking. But it never fails that one week out of the month I completely fall apart. Depression, Fatigue and irritability are very present. I generally just think I’m having a extra tough week then it hits me that my period is coming. I know it’s connected to my period and my hormones because those symptoms disappear when my period hits. Then the next week I return to normal energy and function. It does feel pretty invalidating to hear other women say that most of us are just blaming our emotions on hormones. I know you don’t mean any harm by that statement and I’m glad you don’t have to experience this yourself. ❤
9:40 Reputable sources like WebMD? Seriously?!
Think I'll quit TED for a while, this is becoming ridiculous..
Well... she's not exactly wrong. Huge amounts of people use those sites and believe them.
Now, if she had said "accurate" or "academically sound", that'd be ridiculous.
Cleodel
Sure they do, there are also loads of people who visit the website of the flat earth society.
That doesn't mean it's a reputable source though.
Sebastiaan van der Heide I think you and I just have a different understanding of the word "reputable".
For example, I think christianity as whole is considered a reputable source, even though I personally believe Jesus was probably just this very charismatic guy. However, having a good reputation globally does not mean that it is accurate..
Cleodel
Might be, mine is that it has a reputation, but specifically a good reputation. If it's a bad reputation we have enough other words to use and signify that.
However what my definition is is irrelevant, here's one that's ripped straight from Google:
reputable
ˈrɛpjʊtəb(ə)l/
adjective
adjective: reputable
having a good reputation.
"a reputable company"
synonyms:well thought of, highly regarded, well respected, respected, respectable, with a good reputation, of repute, of good repute, creditable, esteemed, prestigious, estimable; More
Just for fun, here's an article from The New York Times Magazine about them:
- www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06FOB-Medium-t.html
Sebastiaan van der Heide Yay, the amazing world of semantics. Thanks for the definition, but alas... l still think WebMD is considered a reputable source by the general population. (Oh, and it's sort of cute how you use dictionaries to police language, by the way. It's nostalgic. What's next? Are you now going to give me a nice example of Godwin's Law?)
She works as a researcher, I'm pretty sure she understands the issues with sites like WebMD. Perhaps even more than you do.
So go ahead and quit watching TED talks. I'm just saying that I consider your proverbial straw to be a rather flimsy one.
The criticism of the PMS treatments varying from woman to woman invalidating the reality of PMS is an unfair one (If we were to assume that PMS were truly a thing), because people react differently to different things. Some medications for heart disease actually cause increased severity of heart attacks in some people. Does that mean that heart disease doesn't exist?
SangoProductions21 It isnt about whether the illness exists or not, its about whether the treatment is reliably effective or not. Heart medication, say, a blood thinner, must reliably thin the blood of the vast majority of people for it to get through certification. Once it is certified, you know it will reliably thin the blood of basically everyone it is used on, bar the tiny, tiny fraction of the population that have an allergic reaction. A drug working on 99.99% of the population, like your average blood thinner, vs a drug working on 50% of the population isnt even in the same ball park. When one drug is near always reliable, and the other one is a coin toss thats no more reliable than a sugar pill, chances are one of the two is a sugar pill, and I think its a pretty safe bet which one it is
This is true. Have you read Dr. Sinatra's book, The Great Cholesterol Myth? He points out studies the drug co's never mention when pushing statins...men w/ very low cholesterol die sooner.
SangoProductions213 it may not be a revelation to you, but these studies are not chosen to be disclosed when drug reps and pharma pushes statins to get cholesterol REALLY low to help supposedly prevent heart attack...but die sooner statistically. When my dad had open heart surg in 2012 (had normal cholesterol & slender/muscular but was never diagnosed LDL pattern B...BB like, damaging TYPE cholesterol without Niaspan or Niacin to convert to type A), they were prescribing huge satin doses. They have since changed prescribing practices. He felt blue, forgetful, ached all over, bad. The brain is made up largely of cholesterol, so the question is what effect will these meds have over time. Also, statins are worse for women (synthesis of hormones, need cholesterol and harder on them) and should be avoided if possible. B/c of drug co's knowing this and lagging biz for this demographic, Crestor and others have ads PUSHING it to women. "I got my # down w/ Crestor!"...not necessarily good.
Jane Tatum Perhaps people should read up on medication and when they need it before taking it?
Vitamin and mineral and so on deficiencies are well-known at this point.
Jane is appealing to emotion. This is a tactic they employ sometimes to win arguments. Weak!
Great presentation. Robyn is well spoken, calm but interesting to listen to, well organized, knowledgeable, and presents excellent reasons to care about the results of a well run PMS/PMDD study. BTW, Robyn did NOT deny there was a syndrome, rather that it is much more limited than drug companies and magazines would have us believe - often for their own gain.
I found it really interesting to try to look at PMS from different standpoints. She gave a clear definition of what PMDD is (DMS) and a percentage of women who experience it. (Not sure how true that percentage is but it still validates the existence of it.) She challenges PMS alone (she steps away from PMDD) as a label and poses the social issues that can arise from doing that. I think that, instead of invalidating women's experience with PMS, DeLuca offers an opportunity to consider PMS in societal terms as an invalidating entity.. and the ways in which the societal adoptions of PMS have manifested further to serve other agendas.
Terrible talk - PMS exists, what a lack of understanding
She never denied PMS exists. Perhaps you are some emotional woman not able to understand a well presented lecture (satire, but you get the point). The lecturer is trying to bring out facts to help women be taken seriously, and her calm, rational, statistical analysis makes me think SHE should be taken very seriously, and not just compared to other women, rather all humans.
Zvi Benari she’s just pissed because that lady “womansplained” her own period to her.
When a woman has her period she has abdomen cramps and suffers bloodloss! If that is not reason enough to get cranky than I don't know what is. A hormonal disbalance at this time is also scientifcally proven, because your body is preparing to get pregnant every month. I myself also experience backpain or chestpain. Some women do probably exaggerate their symptoms, but it doeasn't mean that they don't exist at all.
Yup. My cramps are so bad that it feels like I'm having the stomach flu. I try my best to keep my composure, but there are times when the pain is so awful that I can't be nice to anyone unless they're offering me pain reliever or food.
Cramps during menstruation is a symptom of not living in a way that is healthy for your reproductive system. Obviously women's bodies are not designed to be in pain every month. What works for me is exercising, and if I slack from it the more I get these symptoms (cramps, heavy bleeding and bla bla). I think diet plays a role too.
KeepCalmAndEatCookies they exist, but this is not a sickness, because menstruation is not a sickness that is why it should not be called a syndrome, the same way that giving birth with pain is no a sickness. For me my menstruation is my healing period, in those moments I let myself feel all what I want and I take my time to heal myself and pamper myself.
wenbiafra I agree with you. It should not be considered a sickness. Its just that in the video she sounded a bit like women are making up all the symptoms that are naturally there during your period.
+Evoral funny how no woman is replying to this...
In Japan, it is said that many women is suffering from PMS and I am one of them. I don’t agree with her insistence that PMS is the symptom which only women in Europe experience.
Exactly it's invalidating so many other women as well. Like women are women no matter what race!
I really appreciate this talk. I think it's important to keep in mind the definition of PMS/PMDD before getting all worked up. She didn't say no one experiences PMDD. It's a smaller percentage who experience psychological symptoms that are truly related to pre-mentrual period. BUT it's become a catch-all term to mean whatever symptoms you feel before, or even during your period. And this doesn't mean the physical symptoms some women (myself included) experience are not real, they're just not PMS, if you go by the definition she laid out. Yes, you do get cramps, I do. Yes, it makes me a bit cranky, but that's because I'm in pain, not because hormones are messing with my head. Medicine (I just take advil) helps because if you make my leg stop hurting, I'm not in pain and can be happy again.
I have been dismissed with "You're just PMS-ing" on a handful of occasions, all of which were during times AFTER my period (within two weeks) and I was legitimately annoyed or angry for reasons not related to hormones. In fact, it's usually the person saying it who is the cause of my emotional outburst, and saying it only makes me angrier for being told what I'm feeling isn't legitimate.
Right ! :)
I'm... I'm triggered. I won't say anything else because it's mean.
😂😂
Why is this good news? I thought every woman gets it and now I’m the 3-8% of unlucky ones!
It's more than that!
Very good points: there also exists a massive concern of women attributing "PMS" symptoms to what are actually symptoms of endometriosis. It generally takes a ridiculous amount of visits to the gynecologist in order to get this condition diagnosed (if ever) leaving many women without answers and with more cause to write their experiences as "normal." All in all, there must be more questions raised like DeLuca has presented here, these are important issues.
I wish she covered more of the scientific proof and studies covering that PMS is not real. I can believe either side as long as there is support. However, if she's not giving us strong evidence and statistics, then why should we believe her? As a side note, if I were bleeding a lot from my crotch, I'd definitely have mood swings.
She didn't say PMS wasn't real, she (more or less) said that the treatment and understanding of PMS by medical professionals and the public was BS. The BS on the medical side was handled by the DSM renaming PMS pre-menstrual dysphoria disorder (PMDD) and making it actually medically relevant with regards to the criteria used to diagnose it. The BS in the public sector is still an issue and she goes on about it for the rest of the talk. She actually makes a pretty rigorous case considering she only had 15 minutes.
+m0hsalim One of the slides did actually have names of the studies she cited for prevalence rates. I would assume looking at the studies would be a good thing to do if you want to see how strong the evidence is, in terms of sample size, bias, methodology, and so on.
@@boredom682 She called it a myth.
No matters others comments are , i DO THANK YOU to this lady.
What i understood her points were(correct me if i am wrong 🥺) those symtoms are real! They do exist! Yes she did agreed those mood swings and others symtoms etc. are REAL!! But the name of PMS or PMDD should not be LABLE on and any of us, women. There are so many reasons mixed up to get us there, the time of the month and BIG money in this thing called PMS.
Ladies, i have hard time every month as well but from now on i will not called it PMS or PMDD anymore. I will try to dig to the roots and fix it there.
I really wish us all women get rid of all those symtoms Love you all Ladies 💜
🤨
I wish we had a discussion on PMS by Dr. Ramani. This is one of the crappiest TED talk on a crucial mental health condition dealt by so many women across the world. I could literally sense the high emotional state of mind l experience every month as soon as ovulation starts and this woman says its experienced by men and dogs? Putting men and dogs together in itself is extremely derogatory and demeaning a genuine issue like that is all the more humiliating for those women who experience it.
This is absolutely the worst ted talk I have ever heard and a bad agreement in general.
I'm amazed at how someone can publicly invalidate something just because they themselves do not experience it or bc science has not quiet figured out how to accurately measure and treat it. If you can aspect that drinking coffee (caffeine) can have an effect on your mood, then why can't people accept that drastic hormonal inflections in women throughout the month can effect mood with the same or greater intensity.
Do big businesses exploit the situation, of course like with anything else that they can make money off of. But don't invalidate the condition because profit hungry businesses exaggerate it and sell to every women who feels any negative emotion.
I believe this woman and many others demanding equality between men and women have some sort of complex. Penis envy or something. WE ARE DIFFERENT!!! You don't see men walking around complaining that they don't get to push out babies. What we should be promoting is acceptance, tolerance, and genuine value for our difference, not the idea that we don't have symptoms related to the processes that brings us all here and are therefor somehow the same as men.
Lastly, I've known very few women in my life who have denied and not displayed mood related symptoms related to PMS. Both PMS and/or PMDD are real for the vast majority of women during some season of their lives.
PS. Aside from PMS men and women have different hormonal make up. Most women are more emotional than most men. Generally speaking, we will lead differently as a result. We need to learn to accept that, not ignore it, and still value female leadership.
+Jun Gemi You're just upset because someone just told you there's no scientific basis for your bullshit. You're upset that you have to hold it in and be polite like men. Grow up, be an adult and stop polluting the world with your negative energy. Be like a man who holds it in for the sake of being polite and thoughtful, apparently women can't change from being assholes.
"I'm amazed at how someone can publicly invalidate something just because they themselves do not experience"
"Lastly, I've known very few women in my life who have denied and not displayed mood related symptoms related to PMS."
I thought you decided that experiences don't count though?
Also, there's seriously no evidence that women are more emotional than men. Men are often discouraged from displaying emotion, which makes it seem like they're less emotional.
And I can't even take you seriously if you mention penis envy. That's not a thing.
Jun Gemi I agree
where is she talking about the breast pain before the periods, nausea where you feel like throwing up even the water, what about joints pain? What about abdomen and lower back pain before periods? What about unwanted severe acne before and during periods? Pms include all this as well. Pms is not only irritability and being depressed.
Right! Don't forget bloating
So... are we saying that when she acts like that she doesn't have the excuse of PMS? Because... then that means she's just being a jerk for no reason.
Thanks science.
I was about to make this exact comment more or less. I'm like, 95% sure there was some kind of crime committed by a woman and she got off the hook by claiming PMS affecting her behavior.
Now it makes ya wonder...
SergeantKozi
Exactly, this person suggests that it is men that dismiss women as having PMS when often as not women are claiming that they're not responsible for their behavior because of PMS.
Believe us ladies, we'd be much happier if we could actually hold you accountable for bad behavior the same way men are held accountable.
I really doubt many women understand how much special treatment they get all time for a lot of different reasons. Women have NO idea what it is like to be a man. We get no slack for anything.
When I was growing up, my mother would frequently freak out for no reason and scream at everyone. And it wasn't just the men of the house that thought she was acting like a nut, my sister thought she was being crazy as well.
My father would sit there and just take it. He'd sit there and wait for it to end. He wouldn't leave unless she wanted him to and he wouldn't say anything because she wasn't interested in anyone saying anything. She just wanted to scream and she felt entitled to make everyone around her miserable FOR HOURS.
Guess how often my father did that? Never. Not once. With my mother, at least once a week. Typically she'd do it on a Sunday night because she'd get all stressed out before going to work.
I love my mother. I love my father. But there are some massive entitlement issues with women in this country. And to suggest that YOUR entitlement issues are the fault of males... then way to go yet again not taking responsibility for anything including your own crappy behavior.
It isn't just men that have to take responsibility or change or check their privilege or whatever stupid term people come up with... women have to change as well. There were some perks that went along with the old social contract and really given that you keep insisting that you be treated equally, at some point you're going to have to give those up.
And when that happens, you're in for a rude shock.
Do you know how men respond to other men whining about their feelings? They laugh at them.
So... look forward to that future.
So... feeling irritated, unhappy, or angry when situations suck means a woman is a jerk?
Does that apply to men as well?
Marialla um yeah, you get labeled as having anger issues
Or, on the flip side, that men can't claim women are irrational or upset due to hormones, so it is no longer an excuse not to have women in positions of authority.
(Also, sounds like your mother may have actually had something else, like depression/bipolar disorder/anger management issues, to be honest. It would have probably been in her favour to actually have help (instead of people saying, "Oh she's just a woman"). Oh, and was she both working *and* taking care of the housework?).
It’s hard to monitor psychological symptoms, but I certainly think we should learn how to manage them, PMS or not. I find my moods pms are way more emotional and anxious, including panic attacks. How about some more research 🔬
I have PMS which according to this is PMDD now. To be honest I have been annoyed when female friends have complained about far less symptoms and talked about PMS (usually they mean their periods, not PRE-menstrual syndrome). Anyway, I still don't think most women are being douches. I think it's just that periods can be uncomfortable and painful. Maybe it's more like being a little ill and still having to function as if you weren't. It can stress anyone and make them irritable. Also it can make you more sensitive to your other underlying health issues like tension neck, food intolerances etc. Mostly I haven't seen it stopping these women from functioning whereas mine have sort of been ruining my life since forever. I'm sure some use it as a crutch too and I know many women who have no symptoms and who are very happy with it. In fact these are the majority of my female friends! This is my experience.
This TED talk sounds reasonable. This is most likely a step into a positive direction with the issue becoming more defined as more research is done. She isn't wrong about how PMS being so loosely defined has affected people like me who actually have it pretty bad. It's NOT taken seriously. I've also felt like less of a person because of the negative stigma & womens emotions being belittled because "it's just PMS" which made me try to hide mine even when it causes me serious mood disturbances and hiding your depressive episodes is nothing but detrimental to your mental well-being but I was so ashamed or being labeled a "PMS woman" since mine weren't that funny at all. Even gynecologists don't take it that seriously and there actually doesn't exist any exact treatments for it because it hasn't been studied or defined. Birth control just doesn't fix it nor do SSRI's or even antipsychotics in my case. I'm personally sure it is a hormonal issue or my body's "allergic" reaction to my own hormones. An immune response if you will. There really needs to be a more precise hormonal/anti-pain medicine directed at PMDD but there just isn't. Birth control wasn't developed for PMDD but it's the main "treatment" we have right now.
For the longest time I felt like nobody even cared but this news brings some hope. It won't please everyone right now with the headlines going for the sensational "PMS DOESN'T EXIST YO" but it's going to get better from here.
I feel that you intentionally ignored MANY facts and information just to make your point look right, therefore I am hesitant to trust anything you say.
The method of testing is -for the lack of a better word- unpractical, you asked the woman to report their feelings themselves, I believe it's common knowledge that people don't know when they are behaving differently, people around them do, what you did is like asking a mental patient if he is crazy (I'm not comparing or claiming women are mentally ill, don't twist my words please), do you think he will answer with yes? of course not.
Mood swings and irrationality are Real. Anyone who lived with a female human being will confirm that by observation, ANYONE male or female observer. If hormones change mood will change, it's proven science don't try to get around it.
3:58 is simply wrong, PMS is known all over the world, including China and the Middle east since thousands of years.
I know she had a Ph.D in what she does and I don't, but we all have functioning brains that can analyze information too, no Ph.D needed.
"The method of testing is unpractical"; She's the Ph.D. Perhaps you should review her methods, then argue why alternative methods would be better. She references 5 studies with similar conclusions. Are the individuals who conducted those studies and those who reviewed them for publication, know less than you? Are their methods less sophisticated and accurate to test their hypothesis than yours?
"Mood swings and irrationality are real"; she's not arguing that they are not. She and others have done work to show that these mood changes are not due to PMS. Only 1%-8% of those suffering those symptoms are actually attributed to PMS.
"It's proven science don't try to get around it"; this statement puts the onus on you to provide evidence to the contrary. Otherwise this statement is meaningless.
"I know she had a Ph.D in what she does and I don't" Sorry, yes, she is a professional. You may reference another professional who thinks otherwise, but your opinion on its own is of less value than hers. You shouldn't discard a claim 'just because', at least reference why you believe otherwise.
I experience back pain, muscular pain, at least 2 times a month for days at a time. Is it ok for me to take out my frustrations and anger out on my girlfriend?
p.s premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is different. It causes emotional and physical symptoms, like PMS, but women with PMDD find their symptoms debilitating, and they often interfere with their daily lives, including work, school, social life, and relationships.
I don't know how I was able to finish listening to this presentation. I have learned that women are unable to relate to the anguish and psychological distress associated with menstrual pain if they do not experience it. Midol and Pamprin does not help! This is my personal experience.
I cannot believe this is an actual TED Talk presentation. They allowed this woman to come here to belittle and dismiss women who suffer from PMS and PMDD. They need to pull down this presentation.
Ok, I might have to watch this one again because all week symptoms have been horrible! If Aunt Flow don't show up this 😤 week. I think I am going to go off on EVERYBODY by next week! Then when she show up late cause I aint Mary but we all know how things work. I will spend the next 2 weeks apologizing to everyone who was kind enough not to curse me out or try to 💓 my a**
So you're saying hormones don't affect the body? Because there is definitely a hormonal change just before a woman's period.
Sad state of affairs that I clicked this thinking it would be an exercise in doublethink and stupidity to justify PMS as a get-out-of-agency free card.
Thank you for proving me completely wrong on that assumption.
I think she has no PMS for sure; lucky woman
Maria Sporan that’s exactly what I was thinking!!! 😤
Probably doesn’t, only 8 percent do - so odds are pretty solid she’s fine.
@@Rockmonanov it's 80%
Its true that some cultures dont have PMS. Sometimes its all in the mind and social conditioning to believe that something is wrong. I think it depends on diet, exercise, relationships, good air quality, doing positive things, absorbing the sun, nutrition, etc.
They do have pms, but when they come from poor backgrounds and you have alot of problems to worry about, you suffer through it. because its survival.
I think there's scientific evidence backing up PMS now with hormones being released during the stage before a period starts causing the mood swings, depression, and anxiety. But considering this comment was 7 years ago I think you understand now.
@Commodore1236
"what you did is like asking a mental patient if he is crazy (I'm not comparing or claiming women are mentally ill, don't twist my words please), do you think he will answer with yes?"
Actually, in a majority of cases, people do realize that something is wrong with them. I think it is just a cultural myth that "crazy people don't know they're crazy". Perhaps stemming from manic episodes or psychotic breaks, where that could *possibly* be the case?
My hormones are all kinds of fucked up thanks to my PCOS and I still have yet to experience PMS. So, there's that. I'm really not surprised that PMS doesn't exist outside of Western cultures. Expectation and attitude towards something have a huge influence on its outcome.
Yeah it's nonexistent in Asia. Asian women are either moody all the time or not. It has nothing to do with their period. Some women even got nicer around that time!
Melody Smith you you you. rme
Great talk. It's time to dispel the myth that all women are doomed to irritability & irrationality that they cannot control, due to the simple fact of their hormones. This is harmful to young women, who view menstruation as a punishment; men, who identify "PMS-ing" women as incompetent; and people who suffer actual mental illnesses, who fail to identify truly troubling symptoms and go undiagnosed and untreated.
As usual, the comments section on a TED video about female issues is disappointing.
No. Sorry, you might not experience this but I do. Pms is a real thing. When i'm close to my period I almost always become suicidal. It happens before my period. It happens no other time. PMDD is a severe and disabling form of PMS that is a mental disorder and should be treated seriously. When you say PMS and PMDD are not real, the women who suffer with these things are invalidated. Stop spreading the stigma that these things aren't real, and start legitimizing and supporting women who deal with them. Change the stigma around PMS and PMDD. Not all women deal with it, but don't make it harder for those who do.
You're one of the lucky ones apparently who doesn't have the misfortune of suffering from pms, yet alone severe pms called pmdd which I do have and I can tell you along with many other sufferers its 100% hormonal related and very painful. Something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. And because of the lack of awareness out there on this issue along with misleading Ted talks like this, it sadly takes yrs of suffering to get a diagnosis or even find doctors that acknowledge it & treat it.
Would love to see a correlation between PMDD and BAP. Additionally every woman not on hormones has a cycle with clear differences from one week to the next.
She's in good mood today
So she did a whole talk just to say there's no enough research?
If she had just walked on stage simply to say it that way or created a quickie post about how not enough research is being done then not enough people would sit and listen. They would mix the information with theirs too and create a whole different set of assumptions. At least I would think so lol could be wrong.
*not
This is so ridiculous. Basically this woman is telling us that the depression, anxiety, exhaustion, pain ad discomfort nearly all women of reproductive age have to deal with is all in our heads.
The thing is that PMS is NOT exclusively psychological symptoms. It has also been used as an acronym to describe the physical symptoms a woman experiences. Headaches, craps, bloating, breast pain, all of these are real, occur before the cycle, but not after. The pain can certainly cause depression, and anxiety can stem from "how heavy will my period be" to "OMG, am I pregnant? Will I even have a cycle?".
EVERY woman experiences some sort of discomfort or discomfiture during her cycle. While it isn't necessarily PMDD or another "psychological disorder", it is real and occurs frequently, although symptoms can change over time, growing better or worse depending on many factors.
bcgrote Yeah I think "PMS" has always been an easy way to describe a collection of symptoms whether it was actually PMS or not.I get that the periods themselves can be such a pain that anyone would get anxious, irritated and depressed just for that. I have to make a differeniation where my PMDD anxiety and depression seem to come from nowhere before physical symptoms appear. They just begin on the spot when the estrogen spike happens about a week before the period. I get the same response from birth control which is pretty much the same hormones so it makes sense to me that this reaction is caused by just the hormones.
veryangrypigeon Right! I was fortunate to not have many symptoms for most of my life. But now I'm on the pill for hormone control, and I have the WORST symptoms! My poor husband, he knows when my period is coming, I have one day where I get pretty gnarly!
Mostly knowing your body is the best way to help. Lots of medicines are ok, she disses Midol, but caffeine opens blood vessels, which helps with pain, it isn't just for waking up! And there are herbal remedies and massage and acupuncture that help too.
bcgrote Aye, I can't seem to get relief from meds. Aside from taking lots of NSAID's which clears my head a bit. Apparently it somehow lowers some hormone levels but it's just a band-aid.Mine explodes during just one day too and it's downhill from there until periods. Agreed, getting to know your body and yourself is currently my no1 treatment too. I try to be forgiving with myself when I suddenly fail at everything and a low fodmap diet and some excercise before the periods brings some relief and reduces the building anxiety. Wow. For some reason coffee helps me too. It even clears migraines for me. Doesn't always work but it's one of my go-to's as well even tho my doc recommended against it! (Sleep cycle also goes belly-up before periods) It's always a struggle to get out and do these pre-emptive things before periods when your whole body is suddenly against it lol.
Just because you have an opinion contrary to the popular one doesn't make you smart. Your arguments are baseless . Sometimes there are things that doctors cannot explain. You are putting down a lot of women through your not so smart arguments.
Hey 'dr.'.......instead of talking about lucky women without PMDD ..how about you talk about the fact of life of the ones who has it??????????? For like...20 years????This is really bad 'fact' talk....Women without it has less empathy for the women with PMS or PMDD than a man toward than women!!! Weird!!!!!!!!
You cannot discount PMS, or even put a figure on it like that if there isnt even consensus on a definition. I can tell you now, that anacdotal evidence may be sketchy, but monthly, utterly predictive anacdotes kind of build evidence over time. I can tell, every single month, when my wife gets pms, to the hour. Always 5 to 7 days before her period. Its very real for her, and the periods themselves can be debilitating pain. I just get out the house as much as I can that first few days!
I wonder how many people actually take midol for emotional and mental symptoms. I personally suffer from terrible pain and midol (or the combination of acetaminophen and caffeine) is the only thing that helps the pain. Still, am very glad to hear that emotional PMS isn't as prevalent as pop-culture makes it out to be.
Well, this has been eye opening.
Welp, I have homework over this video, and the comments are not helping me feel like im learning something useful
This woman is in flat out denial not only denial but she's dangerous because she believes her own lies. PMS exists and so does PMDD so does a strange mastitis that happens one week out of the month for certain women who have never breast fed or had babies. This may make for a small number of women but that does not mean these women or their severe symptoms are invalid.
Heck yes it does!!! I'm pmsing right now and if she was in front of me id be happy to explain it to her! She has no dam clue! I have kept a log!! For years and it's REAL!!!!! 😡😡😡😡😡😡
Connie Beth Its for REAL and so are women who can't notice a difference at all. This needs to be recognized that there is no absolute. I'm totally pmsing right now too. Lots of potassium helps my mood and so does raw cocoa.
+Hope Community She didn't say it doesn't exist. Or at least, that's not what she meant. Her main point on its existence was that its prevalence in a form *that is severe enough to be considered a mental disorder* is much lower than what most people believe. It was something like 3-8% prevalence. That's a lot more than 0. And of course, there can also be a much larger proportion of the demographic that suffers more mild effects not classified as PMDD.
Personally I never got pms but was always told I should have it so kinda just went along with that belief. I definitely feel really tearful and generally run down during my period. But not a week before. But if you think about it with pms if your told enough times that you are something or that you feel something eventually you’ll assume its true.
🤨
I'm sorry but this doesn't seem to be taken serious. I suffer from PMS for about 8-10 years and i've read a lot about herbs, vitamins and minerals and this syndrome is being referred to regularly. I'm quite a bit disappointed in Tedx.
Big mouth incorrecter.
PMS has many factor. so that use syndrome.
Perhaps she does not know about Adrenal Fatigue, Hypoferric anemia,hypoglycemia.
Many women are prescribed antidepressants that are ineffective in psychiatry for years.
PMS is rare? Wrong. Psychiatry can not cure. Nutrition and exercise, hormonal balance is important.
What she wants to say?
I DON'T LIKE MEN.
Happy to the women who really suffer.
Me in the first minute....
“I already hate this, but it’s a TedTalk, I’ll give it a try.”
Me after the video:
“This is a flagrant slap in the face to women who go through serious fluctuation in hormones and thought patterns. Do not demean the many women who struggle to get through the psychological torture of this time of month, by trying to encapsulate it within a 15 minute segment.”
This is one of the most logical yet ignorant speeches I have ever heard.
Why women are urging of being a "good women"? Why an out-of-controlled-man can get forgiveness, but a women can't? It's not fair. Men and women are both human. We all have the right to express our feelings (not offensive, of course).
Sorry for my poor english.
I get PMS very bad because every other month I must take progesterone to induce my period because I have pcos (produce too much testosterone) I do gain about 5-10 lbs , I get very grumpy, cramps, days before my cycle and i get depressed . None of these symptoms go away until my last day of my cycle oh and I can't forget the breast swelling and tenderness and extreme irritability
My anecdotal experience has been the opposite of what DeLuca poses : the "angry beast" appeared every month exactly 1 day before menstruation started. The "high emotional and professional functioning" mentioned here manifested itself as lunatic attempts to destroy everything positive about our marriage. Back to the drawing board...
Self reporting is a totally unreliable method of detecting the presence or severity of irrationality or mood swings. With that foundation for these studies, they're basically worthless.
IDK, self control is a fucking worthwhile avenue of pursuance?
I feel like PMS is used as an excuse by both men and women to act like idiots
some women " I'm gonna eat six bars of chocolate in one sitting and yell at my kids. its not my fault, it's PMS".
some men: "My crazy PMS wife yelled at me for not cleaning the garage in four months and leaving the toilet seat up for the third time this week"
Women use it as an excuse to act emotional; and men use it as an excuse for why women are upset with their stupid behavior
You're an awesome human being who's got great powers of observation.
The garage is the man's space. If I have to put the toilet seat up, then you should have to put it down.
The hormones used to keep the uterine lining healthy get can into the blood stream and go to the brain. Pms/Pmdd should be taken seriously.
I feel like this talk had the opposite effect she'd hope for. .. couple that with the women's responses in the comments and it just seems to confirm my growing understanding of how emotionally driven women's thinking is... Any time.
Half way through that I felt like I was watching Penn and Teller's Bullshit.
Sometimes I do get really angry before my period, and I have intense violent thoughts. Perhaps some people could be different though so idk man. :-/
Many people misunderstood her. I don't see that she is telling that women don't feel different in that period of the month, she is criticising that society always classify as sickness something that is normal to women. It is just how we are. Embrace your period with all your feelings, it is not a sickness it is just a healing an cleaning of the soul.
wenbiafra is that what she meant? I didn't hear it that way. Terrible that a TED talk could be so misunderstood. That's her fault though. I hope you're right. If you're right, then I agree, it would be great if it was considered the norm & was accepted that many women have significant & difficult to handle mood changes throughout the month related to their cycle
Pms is real. This video is dismissive. Now feminism is against an actual hormonal phenomenon. Bloat, sore nipples, water weight gain, fatigue is all pms it's not just a freaking mental disorder. Who wouldn't be irritable while experiencing the above?!
PMS doesn't have to be a diagnosable mental disorder to be real. You just take away the language we have to describe it when you say it's not a real thing. PMDD is the severe form of PMS that is diagnosable. Most women do experience symptoms before their period so lets not invalidate that because it doesn't fit the clinical criteria for the severe version.
It's the "not knowing" when the dreaded thing will strike , at work, during sleep, while doing dishes, that makes a person dysphoric. Probably not hormones in my logical mind.
I found this interesting and it had good points. But as someone who has pms/pmdd I find this saddening because I don't see any good news about pms is here and judging from the comments, most people who come here are people who are seeking relief from their symptoms.
I don't get the typical irritable and angry pms. Mine is quiet and sad. It makes me pretty inconsistent in what I'm like and I feel like life is tough and overwhelming 😢 there are so many things I'm interested in but for 2 weeks I'd rather play Sims and get absorbed in unhealthy habits and food.
I have a irregular period so my mind can't even jinx me into the symptoms as I never know when they will come on.
Myths?! Wtf🤬
I think it is not related to the nation. I am from Iran and I know when I am crying without any reason while I am eating a piece of cake it is because of PMS. And all wemon talk about PMS in my country. I think we know our feelings
Explains why I'm the same fucking thing throughout the month. I thought it was a privilege for not having it. Now I know I'm normal ;)
I think she makes very valid points.
Every single time I feel irritated/angry with no real reason, I immediately check the calendar to see if I'm pms-ing and I am (around week before the menstruation - not before and not after!). With all due respect, dear Ms DeLuca, please do your research before you stand up in front of people and make fool of yourself :) I'm from across the black sea - women pms-ing over there too ;)
This needs more views
Too much statistics, too little conclusion. ! Did not Like.
Samiksha Diwan the statistics apre the conclusion btw.... you do the connection
She reeks of feminism, but at least isn't an evangelical "I hate man" type of feminist. And, good to know that we finally have a good definition for PMS or PMDD. Of course, I'm not fact checking this, as I don't really care to, but it seems reasonable enough.
No more excuses.
thank you
I jst saw this as a reference on pms and am very surprised by the comments here. First of all to those stating "what is a psychologist doing talking about a biological issue" u obviously don't know about psychobiology. Plus the symptoms that are mentioned like depression mood swing and anxiety are all psychological so please have same respect for the educated woman who seems to have spent her life researching this and is talking on ted based on those facts.
Secondly she didn't say that pms doesn't exist at all she was merely referring to the idea that society has about all women having pms and who's to gain from these falsely reported statistics that the magazines were reporting.
Am a woman and ya I do experience same physiological changes near my cycle but it's certainly doesn't mean I have a disorder or that every emotion I feel is explained by my hormonal changes.
This is untrue. I have a girl, and she even says herself, a week after, that she was totally wrong in that week about anything. Overthinking, overemotional. She hated she broke up many times, and later came back. she says she cannot help it. And it always happens at the same week in a month. How is PMS not a thing then. When women themselves agree it is happening.
I mean, pms is fairly straightforward and not some kind of mystical phenomenon. Hormones affect us a great deal and few days before periods we have a big crash in estrogen and progesterone. The impact of a drop in these hormones is fairly studied. Those who take contraceptive are supplementing these hormones (especially the mini pill) so they dont have pms as bad. How many women were on natural cycles in your study ?
I suffer from PMS, or rather the symptoms that precedes periods. Some months are worse than others. And I get (I am just not throwing in the word as though it is a light thing) suicidal thoughts which I -normally-don't-- ( as though the time before my period is an abnormal occurrence) don't at other times. I know for sure that the week before my period is a gloomy sad time even if I know for a fact that I need not be sad.
Instead what I wish is the time, PMS or whatever it should be called, not be seen as a weakness, as some kind of disease that needs cure. I would rather describe this time as a struggle than call it symptom. Can we not cultivate a different outlook to periods and the emotional ups and downs that accompanying it?
The pain alone that comes before your period will put you in a bad mood! I don’t think she argued her point well at all.
I couldn’t listen to it all. PMDD isn’t PMS and vice versa. It’s also not PME.
I love the reasoning! Lucid!
As a gay person that didn't watch this video i find it incredibly offensive and religious. This type of behavior can not be tolerated because of the Hitler like message it portrays.
P.S. I hate my PMS cycle