Reality TV star Angie Kent opens up on her painful battle with PMDD

When Angie Kent disappears for a few days, some think she’s been out on a bender. But the reality star has revealed nothing could be further from the truth.

“You feel guilty about experiencing these feelings you have no control over,” Kent says of her health battle. Picture: Instagram

Angie Kent has opened up about her struggle and “journey” with premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder (PMDD), a brain hormone condition which triggers severe depression and has left her feeling “overwhelmed”, “lost” and like a “psychopath”.

The reality TV star was diagnosed with PMDD this year, after a third laparoscopy for her polycystic ovarian syndrome and a major hormone imbalance.

“There’s negative connotations around it, you feel guilty about experiencing these feelings you have no control over,” Kent told The Daily Telegraph.

“Leading up to my period I’m a different person, I thought I was bipolar, I was so manic and completely not myself.

“I’d have thoughts everyday Angie wouldn’t have.

“I am functioning but I am not present, I am floating,” says Angie Kent of her struggle with PMDD. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Monash University Professor of Psychiatry Jayashri Kulkarni said PMDD usually occurs seven to 10 days prior to menstruation, leaving the person “incapacitated, not being able to get out of bed, with terrible sadness, rage, suicidal thinking and brain fog.”

Kent, 31, appeared on the fifth season of The Bachelorette in 2019 after previously winning over Australia with her candid views on Gogglebox Australia alongside best mate, Yvie Jones.

She chose handsome suitor Carlin Sterritt but the couple separated some time after.

She also appeared on I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! in 2019.

Angie Kent and Carlin Sterritt on The Bachelorette. Picture: Supplied

Kent said the condition makes her “feel like an alien like somebody has taken over my body.”

“Everything hurts, you can’t explain that, people would think I’ve been on a bender, with more education they would understand.”

The podcast host said when experiencing a PMDD episode, she avoids socialising for up to five days.

“I am much more sensitive to things, I find it very difficult to concentrate, I am functioning but I am not present, I am floating,” she said.

Despite PMDD affecting up to fifteen per cent of the reproductive age group, Professor Kulkarni said “the very serious condition” is overlooked, “classically underplayed” and requires prioritisation.

“PMDD is a dumb name, PMDD carries dreadful morbidity and even mortality,” Professor Kulkarni said.

“With conditions that are fluctuating, it’s seen as “is it real or is it put on”.

Kent hopes to change the way people discuss PMDD, drive further research and put a stop to “medical gaslighting”.

“I want to create a space for people to be diagnosed quicker and get the right help instead of having to suffer for as long as I did,” she said.

Originally published as Reality TV star Angie Kent opens up on her painful battle with PMDD