December 9, 2005
I was reading a blog I should never read for my own mental health and I found link to a blog about called Overexitable;
Blogs stated intention:
...reduce prejudice against gifted/high IQ people by daily exposure to one such individual. Humble aim: stop annoying family and friends.
Since I have already annoyed a couple of friends with pointless phone calls, I'll just take this to the world at large.
I have a question for the author of Overexitable.
What about when gifted people get PMS? What to do except crawl into bed put the covers over the head and ignore every clamourous intention to self critique because that's what I do while in this state of mind.
Is PMS worse for smart girls? or is it because I am at the age where my body is of the opinion that I ought to be pregnant and not bleeding. Is it louder more virulent or have I turned into a wimp in the face of my own hormones.
I know this is a shitty topic to post about no one wants to hear about PMS. But I am so frustrated that I can't manage my own emotion 5 days out of every month.
I kind of think it would be appropriate if I were to separate from the normal flow of life on these days. If I am going to be reflective and moody I might as well give myself the time to do that in a warm bath with a journal. Instead I force myself to think competitively about deadlines and workflows. My body is just a horse my brain rides to get to the destination.
Only apparently my brain is not the best equestrian.
Okay since the real world isn't going to follow the lunar calendar I need to go make some chamomile tea and get my shit together.
Solutions
So I just got off the phone with Lainie, and we decided that the obvious answer to the working with PMS issue is to scrap the idea of the four day work week, and replace it with a 26 day work-month. This would mean working it doesn't matter how many days a week for the first 22 -26 days of a cycle and then taking the days you need off, to follow your cranky little egg machines cycle.
Luckily I work independently so I am not going to have to go talk to my union rep about this or anything. I just need to start figuring out my cycle in advance so I can make the appropriate adjustments to my calendar.
Coming up another post about uterii....
Continued from main page..
Posted by Miriam at December 9, 2005 11:41 AM
| TrackBack
Posted to
being a girl
You called?! Luckily I am at a point in my own hormonal rollercoaster that should allow me to make some kind of sense.
Yes, gifted women get killer PMS, to make a vast generalization. I'm sure not all of them do, some of them probably don't admit it out loud, and some of them are unconcious of its effects. So I'll just talk about me.
For many years I didn't think I got PMS. Looking back I see that I was constantly in a state of emotional arousal, so it wasn't standing out from my norm, and I never made the connection. Now that I've calmed down a bit, I feel the effects as irrational thoughts, high anxiety, irritability, and a constant craving for chocolate and fast food. I avoid making any life-changing decisions, like breaking up with a guy or quitting a job. When the fog clears, I look askance at these ideas and marvel at the baroque rationalizations I can come up with under the influence of physical withdrawal.
Because that's what it is. When I was quitting smoking, people were supportive and solicitous. When I'm quitting high oestrogen levels as a normal part of my cycle, it's a different story. Oestrogen levels shoot up, then crash as progesterone rises and stops the body making oestrogen receptors so it can go ahead and get pregnant. Unfortunately oestrogen controls firing levels of all the good-feeling, good-functioning hormones like seratonin and dopamine. So in PMS it can feel like heroin withdrawal and certainly affects mood and intellectual function. Here endeth the lesson.
The point is that gifted people are more sensitive to, well, pretty much everything. That's why I didn't notice PMS for all that time, because I was getting constantly triggered by other things in life. If normal people experience themselves and the world like regular 52-channel cable, gifted people have an enormous sattelite dish with thousands of channels. So yes, it is going to be harder for us because we are simply more aware.
So (stay with me here!) what can we do? First of all, accept your emotions but be wary of how and when you act on them - identify your triggers and decision points and practice acting the way you want. Seriously, try it like aversion therapy. If, for example, your boss drives you crazy at this time, get a picture and practice until you have control, then do the real thing. It'll hard code pretty quickly.
Preplanning is everything. If you have a regular cycle, great - change stuff around so you have as much freedom to take care of yourself during the oestrogen crash as possible. If you don't, be aware that a mood swing/bad hair day/disgust at the smell of tuna/whatever might be signalling you and deal with yourself accordingly. Find out what makes you feel better and DO IT without guilt. This is real, serious, and deserves your attention. Be gentle with yourself.
That's probably more than you ever wanted to read! Anyway best of luck and thanks for checking out my blog. I'll be back to visit you.
Best,
Joanna
wow
That was like bewitched i just blinked and there you were.
I sent your url to a couple of my gifted friends, just to see what they think of it all.
I don't think I do anything without guilt.
except feel guilty.
Thanks for the advice, I am just going to hang in there for today. (probably by my teeth at this rate)
cheers,
mir
"I don't think I do anything without guilt.
except feel guilty."
That is by far the best thing you have ever written in this blog.
If this blog has one over-ridding purpose, than perhaps this is it: to bear this quote.
anybody have any idea how to get in touch with the Bartlett's people?
ned
Maybe you just submit the quote or something..
However I am neither dead nor famous so I doubt they'll take it- unless you kill me or help me start a rock band.