CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses mental health challenges, including suicidal thoughts and ideation. If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, call 000. For confidential 24/7 crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. Support is also available through Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or at beyondblue.org.au. 

What if the person you're most afraid of becoming is yourself? 

Every month, writer Emma Hardy found herself trapped in a cycle of rage, despair, anxiety and emotional chaos. Then it would pass, and life would return to normal - until the cycle began again. 

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Marie Claire Editor Georgie McCourt sits down with Emma to discuss her debut memoir, Periodic Bitch: A Memoir of Menstruation, Madness and Monsters, a raw exploration of life with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). 

Together, they discuss PMDD, from uncontrollable anger and emotional outbursts to the relief and complexity of finally receiving a diagnosis. The conversation moves beyond the condition itself, examining how women's pain is misunderstood, dismissed or pathologised, and why conversations about female rage remain so uncomfortable. 

Emma also explores the surprising cultural influences behind the book, from horror stories and hysteria to medical research conducted on rats, and the question at the heart of Periodic Bitch: when is a mood just a mood, and when does it become an illness? 

In this episode: 

• What PMDD actually is, and why it's often mistaken for severe PMS 

• Emma's journey to diagnosis 

• Georgie's personal experience living with PMDD 

• The impact PMDD can have on relationships, careers and self-worth 

• Why female anger is so often labelled as madness 

• The link between PMDD, mental health and emotional regulation 

• Medical misogyny and the challenges women face when seeking treatment 

• Why PMDD remains under-researched and under-diagnosed 

• The fascinating stories of women whose crimes were linked to premenstrual disorders 

• How Emma learned to stop fearing her emotions and start understanding them 

This is a conversation about hormones, identity, rage, resilience and the stories women are told about their bodies. 

Buy the book: Periodic Bitch: A Memoir of Menstruation, Madness and Monsters by Emma Hardy. 

If this conversation raises issues for you, support is available. 

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Credits: 

Host: Marie Claire Editor Georgie McCourt 

Edited by Charlie Potter 

Consulting Producer: Jessie-Lee Klass 

Supervising Producer: Leah Porges 

Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: You're Gonna Want to Hear This is a production of Marie Claire and Are Media.