PMDD
at work
By Ben Jonas Goedeke · 3 min read · checked against its sources
The hard week does not stop for work. A little planning, and knowing your options, can take some of the pressure off.
Plan around it
Where you can, put demanding tasks in your better weeks and keep the hard week lighter. Tideline shows roughly when it comes, so you can see it on the calendar ahead of time.
You decide what to share
You do not have to tell your manager your diagnosis. In many workplaces, medical paperwork can go through HR in confidence.
Know where you stand
In the US, IAPMD has a guide to how laws on medical leave and workplace adjustments can apply to PMDD, including leave taken a few days at a time. Other countries have their own rules, and a workers' advice service or your union can tell you where you stand.
Ask for what helps
Adjustments do not have to be big: flexible start times, working from home on some days, short breaks when you need them, a quieter place to work, a lighter load that week.
A note from your doctor describing the pattern, together with your record, makes a request easier to agree to.
Keep the record your doctor needs. Tideline is a period and mood tracker for iPhone: write one sentence a day, and after two cycles it puts the week before your period next to the week after it starts. Free to track, no account.
Get Tideline on the App Store
Keep reading
Sources
- IAPMD: PMDD/PME at work