Vicky Pattison admits how PMDD takes extreme toll on her mental health
Vicky Pattison has shared a candid update on her battle with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).
In recent years, the former I’m A Celebrity winner has been open with her fanbase about her difficulties with PMDD, and how she only managed to secure her diagnosis when she turned to private healthcare.
Now, following a new report by British MPs that found that women's health concerns are being dismissed due to "medical misogyny", "pervasive stigma" and a lack of education, Vicky has opened up about her own experience.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier today, the 37-year-old admitted that PMDD takes a significant toll on her mental health each month.
“What I suffer from, PMDD, it manifests itself differently in different women. My particular symptoms include crippling anxiety, exhaustion, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness,” Vicky explained.
“For those 10 days to two weeks of the month – I know I’m not depressed, I know I like my life, I know I’m very fortunate – but I have to convince myself that the world is a better place for having me in it. It is suicidal, that’s how it is,” she confessed.
The former Geordie Shore star later described her battle to get an official diagnosis as “horrendous”.
"For five years, I was dismissed, I was made to feel ashamed… For the majority of the time it was men. I think they lack an understanding and empathy towards what we’re going through as women, whether that be someone suffering with PMDD, adenomyosis, endometriosis – the list is absolutely endless,” Vicky detailed.
"They are not given the correct, I think, information, education to be able to treat a woman going through what those women are,” she noted further.
Vicky went on to clarify that she is in "a ridiculously privileged position" to be able to afford private healthcare, but added that it shouldn’t have been necessary.
"There are thousands, if not millions, of people out there, women who aren’t getting the same opportunities I did and this report is a step in the right direction,” she concluded.
