The Link Between PMDD and Trauma: When the Body and Mind Relive the Past
As a naturopath and trauma-informed emotional healing practitioner, I’ve seen how often the body expresses what the heart has been holding. Nowhere is this more evident than in Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) — a condition where emotional pain and physical distress flare cyclically, often in ways that feel far beyond one’s control.
PMDD affects an estimated 3–8% of menstruating women globally, though many experts believe the real number is much higher due to underdiagnosis and mislabelling as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder. It’s classified as a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), but unlike PMS, PMDD is driven by abnormal sensitivity to normal hormonal changes, rather than hormone levels themselves.
For those who experience it, the luteal phase — roughly two weeks before menstruation — can bring debilitating symptoms such as:
Intense mood swings, rage, or despair
Panic attacks or crippling anxiety
Fatigue, brain fog, and low motivation
Physical pain, bloating, or breast tenderness
Feeling detached, rejected, or unworthy
Suicidal thoughts or a loss of identity
During the follicular phase (after bleeding), many women feel like themselves again — which can be confusing and exhausting. This cycle of emotional fragmentation can create deep feelings of shame, fear, and self-blame.
But what if PMDD isn’t just hormonal? What if the monthly storm is the body’s way of replaying something much older — unresolved trauma stored deep within the subconscious?
PMDD and the Nervous System: Why Sensitivity Is Not a Weakness
Recent research suggests that women with PMDD may have a heightened neurobiological sensitivity to changes in oestrogen and progesterone. These hormonal shifts influence neurotransmitters like serotonin, GABA, and dopamine, all of which affect mood regulation and stress response.
When someone has experienced trauma — whether developmental, emotional, or intergenerational — their nervous system becomes wired for vigilance. Even when life is stable, the body remains on alert. In this state, hormonal fluctuations are no longer gentle rhythms; they become internal stressors that amplify stored emotional memories.
In my clinical experience, PMDD often reflects a body that remembers what the mind has tried to forget. Clients tell me things like:
“It’s like another version of me takes over.”
“I know I’m safe, but my body doesn’t believe it.”
“Every month, I feel like I’m reliving something I can’t name.”
This is where trauma work becomes essential. PMDD isn’t caused by trauma — but trauma and chronic stress profoundly shape how the brain, endocrine system, and immune system respond to hormonal change.
The Subconscious Mind and Cyclical Emotional Patterns
The subconscious mind stores not just memory but also meaning — the core beliefs we formed early in life, such as “I’m not safe,” “I must be perfect to be loved,” or “My needs are too much.”
For many women with PMDD, these subconscious programs are triggered each month when progesterone rises and serotonin drops. The luteal phase acts like a spotlight, illuminating unresolved emotional pain, unmet needs, and patterns of self-criticism or rejection.
This is why so many describe feeling like their reactions are disproportionate — because the subconscious is reactivating old experiences that were never processed.
One client I supported described feeling “possessed” by rage each month. As we worked together, she realised this anger was never random — it was the voice of the little girl inside her who was never allowed to be angry. Once she met this part with compassion, her PMDD symptoms began to soften.
Until we bring subconscious material into awareness, the body will continue to communicate it — often through emotional turbulence, exhaustion, and pain.
Family Constellations: Healing the Systemic Roots of PMDD
One of the most powerful tools I use to explore the emotional roots of PMDD is Family Constellations. This therapeutic approach reveals how unresolved family trauma, grief, and hidden loyalties can unconsciously pass down through generations — shaping not just relationships, but also how we experience our cycles and bodies.
In a constellation, we often uncover inherited patterns such as:
A mother’s depression or emotional absence
A grandmother’s unprocessed grief or loss
Family histories of abuse, silence, or disconnection
Hidden guilt, shame, or the exclusion of a family member
For example, one woman I worked with had PMDD symptoms that flared as overwhelming guilt and self-loathing before every period. In her constellation, we discovered she was unconsciously carrying her mother’s unresolved guilt and sadness — emotions that had never been voiced. When this was acknowledged and given space, her symptoms became gentler, and her cycle no longer felt like punishment.
Family Constellations works systemically, showing that PMDD is not a personal failing but often a reflection of collective emotional patterns. When these entanglements are brought into awareness, the nervous system can finally relax — and the monthly storm begins to calm.
Rapid Core Healing: Reprogramming the Subconscious
While Family Constellations helps reveal what is being carried, Rapid Core Healing (RCH) allows us to reprogram it at the subconscious level.
RCH combines Emotional Mind Integration with systemic awareness, enabling clients to access the original moment a belief or emotional imprint was formed. It gently guides the client into a light trance, where they can meet and heal the younger part of themselves — not through reliving the trauma, but through integration and compassion.
Unlike hypnotherapy, which often relies on positive suggestion, RCH is interactive and resolution-focused. It allows the client to consciously experience transformation in real time — shifting beliefs like “I’m broken” into “I am safe, seen, and whole.”
In PMDD, this process can be life-changing. The subconscious no longer needs to use the luteal phase as a stage to express repressed emotions. The nervous system learns safety, and the cyclical triggers lose intensity.
Neuroscience supports this: the brain is neuroplastic. Every new experience of calm, self-compassion, and resolution rewires stress pathways — restoring hormonal resilience and emotional stability.
How Naturopathy Complements Trauma Healing in PMDD
As a naturopath, I integrate functional medicine and emotional healing to address PMDD from both angles — the body and the mind. Trauma work is most effective when the physical foundations are strong.
In PMDD, I often focus on:
Hormone and neurotransmitter support: Using nutrients such as magnesium, B6, and calcium to stabilise mood and reduce irritability.
Anti-inflammatory nutrition: Focusing on whole, plant-rich foods, omega-3s (especially from Ahiflower®), and minimising refined sugars and alcohol.
Gut health: The gut-brain axis strongly influences mood and hormone metabolism; addressing dysbiosis can reduce inflammation and PMS severity.
Adaptogenic herbs: Saffron, Vitex, and Kava help balance stress hormones, mood, and emotional reactivity.
Sleep and nervous system repair: Using lifestyle and herbal strategies to regulate the circadian rhythm and improve serotonin production.
When naturopathic treatment is combined with subconscious reprogramming, the healing becomes integrated — addressing both the biological and emotional roots of PMDD.
PMDD as the Body’s Monthly Messenger
PMDD is not a flaw in your biology — it’s a call for healing. The body isn’t turning against you; it’s trying to show you where you’ve carried too much, stayed silent too long, or learned to equate love with self-abandonment.
Through Family Constellations, Rapid Core Healing, and naturopathic medicine, we can listen to the body’s message — and finally respond with compassion rather than shame.
When trauma is resolved and the nervous system learns safety, the cycle no longer feels like a battlefield. The emotional waves soften, the fog clears, and you begin to feel like yourself all month long.
PMDD healing isn’t about controlling hormones — it’s about restoring harmony between your body, your emotions, and your story.
About the Author
Camilla Brinkworth is the founder of Camilla Clare Holistic Health and a leading PMDD naturopath, nutritionist, and trauma-informed emotional healing practitioner. Drawing on her expertise in Family Constellations, Rapid Core Healing, and evidence-based naturopathic medicine, Camilla helps women navigate PMDD through an integrative, compassionate approach that supports both hormonal balance and emotional wellbeing.
Having personally experienced PMDD, Camilla understands how isolating and overwhelming the condition can feel. Her work combines scientific insight with trauma-informed care to address the root causes of PMDD — from inflammation and hormonal sensitivity to unresolved emotional patterns.
Through one-to-one consultations, online programmes, and retreats, Camilla guides women toward nervous system repair, stable mood, and a renewed sense of calm and self-connection throughout the menstrual cycle.