This week continues our discussion about PCOS and the grief process, through the DABDA (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) model. Depression is so common among PCOS patients that I write about it quite often. It’s important for you to remain conscious of the clues that you may have depression. Many, if not most of my PCOS patients have some form of depression.
When we’re talking about depression in the context of death and dying, it looks like it does in PCOS too. If you’re suffering from depression, PCOS-related or not, it might look like:
• Sleeping too much or not enough
• Eating too much or not nearly enough
• Being irritable, snappish, and short-tempered
• Feeling suicidal
• Feeling hopeless about your future
• Feeling helpless to do anything to make things better
• Having an overall gloomy, pessimistic perspective on life
It is certainly easy to feel down when you think about the fact that PCOS is so challenging, misunderstood, and often misdiagnosed, and mistreated. It is one of those conditions that benefit less from standard medical treatment and more from diet, exercise, and good self-care. It comes with embarrassing physical symptoms that are time-consuming and costly to manage. There’s not a lot of research being focused on the condition. All of that is definitely overwhelming.
Not to mention, the hormonal imbalance inherent to PCOS can cause depression, even if you manage to maintain a positive attitude, take good care of yourself, and have a good support system. Sometimes, depression invades your mind and soul, because your body’s overwhelmed your coping mechanisms. Depression is best-treated by a professional therapist, sometimes with the assistance of a medical doctor known as a psychiatrist (a specialist in psychotropic medications – medications for mental health conditions).
Next week, we’ll talk about the final stage of the DABDA process – acceptance.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.