Josephine Jourdan parle du trouble dysphorique prémenstruel (TDPM), dont elle souffre | Speech — Transcript

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1. 0:01I went to the psychiatric emergency unit
2. 0:02at Saint-Anne, and for the first time, I
3. 0:04heard a doctor say the words "
4. 0:06premenstrual dysphoric disorder."
5. 0:08Truly, it is a health scandal not to
6. 0:10take this seriously.
7. 0:13PMDD, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder
8. 0:15, is a severe mood disorder that appears
9. 0:17from the time of ovulation until the
10. 0:20start of one's period. So, in fact, it's
11. 0:22as if every month we are subject to a
12. 0:24severe depression. It creates a kind of
13. 0:27emotional fatigue, and above all, it
14. 0:29leaves scars. Actually, having crises
15. 0:31and wanting to throw yourself out of a
16. 0:33window every month—the body remembers
17. 0:34that.
18. 0:35PMDD affects 5 to 8%of menstruating
19. 0:37people, and 15%of them may go as far as
20. 0:39suicidal acts.
21. 0:41For about ten years, I faced doctors who
22. 0:43told me, "It's normal that you suffer
23. 0:46because of your period; it's normal to
24. 0:49be in pain and to be confused." And I
25. 0:51had to be in a moment of really intense
26. 0:54distress to finally get through to
27. 0:57doctors and receive a diagnosis.
28. 1:00The most difficult symptom for me is the
29. 1:02intrusive thoughts.
30. 1:03Since I was little—and I think this is
31. 1:05also why it took me a long time to get
32. 1:07diagnosed—I always took on the role of
33. 1:09the "good girl." I had this
34. 1:10responsibility to be stable, to cater to
35. 1:12the desires of others. Even today, I try
36. 1:15to ensure that the disorder doesn't take
37. 1:18over my life. But there are moments when
38. 1:20it is impossible. Because it is
39. 1:21genuinely disabling. Obviously, it has
40. 1:23happened to me many times that I
41. 1:25couldn't go to professional or personal
42. 1:27appointments, or I'd lock myself in my
43. 1:28room in a crisis, or hurt myself.
44. 1:32There was also a turning point in my
45. 1:34diagnostic journey, meaning I had tried
46. 1:36everything: birth control pills, a whole
47. 1:38bunch of doctors, and I couldn't find
48. 1:40anything that could bring me relief.
49. 1:44Actually, at the time, I was being seen
50. 1:46by a psychologist who told me, "If at
51. 1:48any moment you really feel very, very
52. 1:50bad, we can admit you to the psychiatric
53. 1:52emergency unit at Saint-Anne."
54. 1:54And so, I went there, and it is true
55. 1:56that it was the first time I heard a
56. 1:58doctor say the words "premenstrual
57. 1:59dysphoric disorder."
58. 2:02Truly, it is a health scandal not to
59. 2:03take this seriously, and above all, to
60. 2:05once again put the responsibility on
61. 2:07women, as if it were up to us to manage
62. 2:09our own health and guide doctors through
63. 2:12the treatment and diagnosis.
64. 2:15I think that’s also what makes the
65. 2:17symptoms unbearable: not being heard and
66. 2:19not being believed.
67. 2:21Overall, there is a medical wandering
68. 2:22when it comes to women's health.
69. 2:25When I was 14 or 15 and just starting my
70. 2:26period, I’d go to see doctors because I
71. 2:28didn’t feel well, I was having lots of
72. 2:30nightmares, I was struggling with
73. 2:32emotional stability and all that, but
74. 2:34not once did a doctor ever ask where I
75. 2:36was in my menstrual cycle.
76. 2:38So it’s not a question that gets asked;
77. 2:41it’s something that is truly rendered
78. 2:44invisible and, I think, very difficult
79. 2:46for doctors and society to hear because
80. 2:49it’s something that has been mystified
81. 2:52for years and remains full of taboos.
82. 2:56Ah.