Help for hard moments before your period

Crisis help, then a plan

PMDD and suicidal thoughts before your period: start here

PMDD can bring suicidal thoughts in the week before your period, and research links PMDD to a much higher risk of suicidal ideation and attempts than in people without it. If you're in danger right now, call or text 988 in the US, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK, or call your local emergency number before reading anything else here.

For partners

How to support a partner with PMDD

You support a partner with PMDD by giving her room without disappearing, keeping your own words short and calm, and saving facts or the diagnosis conversation for a calmer day. Planning around her cycle together helps more than reacting in the moment.

Moment

When PMDD feels like it's ruining your relationship

PMDD can make a hard week of irritability or rage feel like proof the whole relationship is failing, even when the underlying problems are real. There's a reset for the next ten minutes, a way to talk that doesn't make things worse, and a way to repair a fight once the surge has passed.

Moment

In a PMDD episode right now? Do this

If you're in a PMDD episode now, calm your body first. Cold water or a slow exhale works faster than trying to think your way out of it. Put off big decisions, texts, and arguments until it passes, usually within a few hours to a day, and if this happens most months, a doctor can confirm PMDD with daily tracking.

For partners

How to handle your girlfriend's mood swings during her period

Her mood swings before her period usually come from estrogen and progesterone dropping, not from something wrong with her or your relationship. Most women feel this mildly; some have PMDD, a diagnosable reaction to that same hormone drop. What helps most in the moment is space, a specific plan, and a conversation you have before the hard week starts.

Hard moment

Feeling fat before your period: what's going on and what helps

Feeling fat before your period is almost always bloating and fluid retention from falling estrogen and progesterone, not a real change in your body. The feeling is real even though the cause is temporary. A few small, physical moves right now can bring the spike down faster than trying to think your way out of it.