The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy: What it means for PMDD
- Emma Diskin
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
As a Research Assistant on the newly launched Cycle Study at KCL, I am hugely motivated to improve outcomes for people living with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). PMDD is a severe mood disorder in which symptoms, like anxiety and depression, happen in the weeks leading up to the start of a period. For more about PMDD see earlier Inspire the Mind article by Dr Ellen Lambert.
The Cycle Study, led by researchers at King's College London (KCL), explores how PMDD fluctuates across the menstrual cycle and how it is influenced by environment, co-occurring conditions, and broader indicators of health. To do this, we combine questionnaire data with wearable device insights such as sleep and activity patterns.
We hope to gain an understanding of why premenstrual disorders occur and how to provide better support and treatment.
As part of the Cycle Study, I interviewed participants with lived experience of PMDD. Through these interviews, it became clear to me that the lack of awareness of the disorder has seriously affected access to effective support by health professionals. For most, this has had serious impacts on their quality of life, with many describing feelings of suicidality. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that mention of PMDD in the recent renewed women’s health strategy for England gave hope of real change and awareness.
The renewed strategy outlines actions for change for the next 10 years of women’s health. Importantly, it sets out exactly how and when these changes will happen, naming organisations, like the NIHR and Department of Health and Social Care, responsible for their delivery.
In this article, I’ll explore some key actions in the renewed strategy and what they might mean for people with PMDD, from changes in healthcare and education, to wider public understanding and conversation around PMDD.
PMDD in the Renewed Strategy
The first mention of PMDD accompanies the broad commitment to improve support for conditions that affect women disproportionately or differently, with the recognition that women and girls may experience mental health challenges differently to men throughout their lives. Though not directly linked to an action point, the recognition of PMDD in the report is a welcome development in delivering change for people with PMDD.
The second mention of PMDD is in action 49, which vows to improve mental health support for women and girls: “we will promote collaborative working between mental health and women’s health sectors to improve women’s knowledge and healthcare professional understanding of the critical relationships between female hormones and mental health. This will help improve care for conditions like PMDD.”
The commitment to promoting collaborative working between mental health and women’s health sectors represents a positive acknowledgement of the complex physical and mental symptoms of PMDD. Many women told me of the lack of continuity of care, and the frustration of returning to their GP once a line of treatment was unsuccessful. Due to the complexity of PMDD, the importance of multidisciplinary management has also been recognised in the literature. This could involve specialists like psychologists and gynaecologists working together to provide personalised care that supports the emotional and physical symptoms of PMDD.
However, it remains unclear what this collaborative working will involve and how it will be implemented. Clarity is also needed on how successful collaboration between mental health and women’s health sectors will be measured. Consequently, while the recognition of collaborative care is a step in the right direction, the success of this commitment ultimately depends on how the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England, intend to action this within their 0-3 year stated timeframe.
The Renewed Strategy: A Broad View
Although PMDD is only mentioned twice in the report, many other actions could also have important outcomes for people with the disorder. A refreshing observation is the honest reflection on the current landscape of women’s healthcare in England. The now former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, leads by stating that “The NHS has a problem with basic, everyday sexism and an appalling culture of medical misogyny”. Indeed, many of the women that I spoke to experienced a lack of understanding and a dismissal of symptoms by health professionals. Broadly, the strategy recognises a need for women to be heard and to be taken seriously and to speed up diagnosis and treatment by redesigning clinical pathways.
A second important aim is to launch a new programme to improve education for girls about their menstrual health, investing £1 million from this year to support targeted work in schools and community settings. The inclusion of PMDD education in this programme would be a huge step in increasing disorder awareness, given that many women that I spoke to failed to recognise their symptoms as PMDD for many years.
They also spoke of the stigma and “double taboo” of opening up about both menstrual and mental health challenges. Education for girls is imperative, and I’d also argue that educating boys about menstrual health, including PMDD, is equally important. Amid the increasingly divisive influence of the ‘manosphere’, it is now more important than ever to involve boys and men in these conversations to foster understanding and compassion between boys and girls. Ultimately, removing the shame and stigma around PMDD requires a societal level of understanding, and this of course includes boys and men.
Another broad aim related to PMDD involves improving research of women’s health needs by prioritising unmet areas of need (Action 104), increasing research funding on the detection, prevention, and treatment of long-term conditions (Action 109). Additional funding would be of great benefit, allowing researchers to carry out larger studies to build a stronger understanding of how PMDD can be effectively managed.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that the renewed Women’s Health strategy for England is a promising start to improving outcomes for people with PMDD. The inclusion of PMDD in the strategy will likely benefit efforts to increase disorder awareness among health professionals and members of the public. Broader efforts to speed up diagnosis and treatment, coupled with the potential for collaborative working between mental health and women’s health services, could have lifesaving effects for people with PMDD.
However, the UK government’s November 2025 Men’s Health Strategy received £8 million in funding - 60% more than the £5 million allocated to the renewed Women’s Health Strategy. This is despite women making up 51% of the population. So, whilst a culture of sexism within the NHS is acknowledged in the new strategy, true recognition going forward would also be reflected in equal funding for both the Men’s and Women’s Health Strategies.
It is also important that improving the mental health of women and girls be added as a measure of success, to ensure that care for people with PMDD is truly prioritised and actioned. This, combined with the promised increased funding of women’s health research more generally, leaves me with hope that we can improve our understanding of PMDD, to support better management and ultimately, prevention. The success of these commitments is not simply a policy issue but a crucial determining factor in ensuring that women and girls with PMDD have the best chance at leading long and healthy lives.
