The anti-depressant Prozac is now being repackaged in pink and lavender capsules and called Sarafem, a product especially for women. Manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company, now losing its patent on Prozac and scrambling to find new profitable pills, Sarafem promises to alleviate a newly minted mental illness associated with menstrual periods, the Village Voice reports. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, or PMDD, is said to affect 3 to 10 percent of all menstruating women–or roughly a half-million women. Its main tell-tale symptoms appear to be disruption in interpersonal relationships during the time between ovulation and the onset of a menstrual period. Advocates for the drug’s new use argue the pills could help alleviate the symptoms of depression, anxiety and over-sensitivity. However, the Voice quotes others who worry aloud that this may be the new Valium, a tranquilizer widely over-prescribed to women in the 1970s.
