Cranky? Maybe it's natural!

Fighting the Pathologizing of PMS | Health and Wellness | AlterNet:

"Are you unhappy? Bloated? Is it hard to concentrate? Do you have food cravings? Breast tenderness?

If you read the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, you will find your symptoms listed under 'premenstrual dysphoric disorder' (PMDD). In other words, because of those symptoms, a therapist or doctor could label you as having a mental disorder.

The DSM is the bible of psychiatric diagnosis, used by nearly every hospital, clinic, doctor and insurance company, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Since PMDD first was mentioned in the DSM in 1987, people have received the mistaken impression that it's real and that it's a mental illness. With the manual's fifth edition currently in preparation, that notion seems likely to be strengthened rather than discouraged."

I don't go seeking these things out - they just come to me via work blogs and self blogs and RSS feeds and tweets and all the good stuff I soak in during a typical day.

xo. ~mari-girl...