As the days lengthen and you no longer have to get up in darkness, do you feel more energetic, happier, more purposeful? For some, Winter is a time of heightened risk for depressive episodes, with Spring bringing a new lease of life. Almost a year ago, in my first Substack post, I wrote that making a diagnosis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) relies on
Clinically, although there is overlap, I don’t think the phenotype of PMDD matches classic MDD - often more irritability/lability than in a typical depressive episode. Though I suppose the heterogeneity of MDD muddies the waters.
Maybe it comes down to whether you are a ‘lumper’ or ‘splitter’ in terms of categorisation.
>Strikingly, 22 (almost half) of the Seasonal Affective Disorder group met criteria for PMDD.
Could this be explained simply by the fact that having one "kind" of depression makes you prone to other kinds of depression?
It’s definitely possible. I don’t know accurate rates for comorbid MDD and PMDD, but having a diagnosis of MDD does seem to increase the risk for PMDD https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3759648/#!po=25.0000
Clinically, although there is overlap, I don’t think the phenotype of PMDD matches classic MDD - often more irritability/lability than in a typical depressive episode. Though I suppose the heterogeneity of MDD muddies the waters.
Maybe it comes down to whether you are a ‘lumper’ or ‘splitter’ in terms of categorisation.