The patriarchy in your uterus is making you sick

Imagine how our godlike bodies could be venerated by everyone

Photo by Monika Kozub on Unsplash

Nothing has clarified for me the issue of sexism in mental health and medical practice in general like having and treating my Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).

This will be less of an organized essay and more of a rant.

(PMDD is a dysfunctional cellular response to normal sex hormone fluctuations caused by the ovulation and menstruation cycle. It affects the body and the brain, causing extreme and debilitating psychological symptoms.) | Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash.

A quick story will bring you to the moment my rant emerged:

On November 28, 2022, after previous SSRI therapy stopped working, I began a chemical menopause protocol to treat my PMDD. I began getting injections of Lupron Depot to shut down my ovaries’ production of hormones, creating a full-on menopause experience: hot flashes, night sweats, sore joints in places that were never sore before like my hands and wrists, aching muscles even more than I already experienced, insomnia even worse than I was already experiencing, exhaustion, and even drier skin than I experienced in perimenopause. Probably weight gain, too, but that could also just be from not moving on account of exhaustion and chronic pain.