Hell Days: Into the Inferno of Hormonal Mood Disorder

by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

When I think of my hell days, I think of crime scenes. Familiar sites, made uncanny with violence.

In the fluorescent tedium of a call centre in 2018, acclaimed novelist Laura Elizabeth Woollett finds herself meticulously plotting her own death. Until her period arrives, and equilibrium with it. After years of dismissing these monthly turns, she’s diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Then, at 33, she falls pregnant and experiences a reprieve — but will it last?

Through case studies, interviews, extensive medical research, and forays into history, true crime, and algorithmic rabbit-holes, Woollett looks beyond herself to assemble a chorus of PMDD sufferers, along with dedicated scientists and clinicians. Navigating the impossible terrain between a potentially fatal disorder and treatments that can be almost as dangerous, Hell Days is a testament to the precarity and dignity of life as a periodically suicidal person in an often-brutal world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mental Health

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2026

About the author

Laura Elizabeth Woollett is an author and critic based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her short story collection, The Love of a Bad Man, was published in 2016, followed by the novels Beautiful Revolutionary (2018), The Newcomer (2021), and West Girls (2023). Her works have been listed for numerous awards, including the Stella Prize and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. In 2025, she was a writer-in-residence at the Cité Internationale Des Arts in Paris. Hell Days (2026) is her nonfiction debut.

Reviews

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 'Hell Days', Laura Elizabeth Woollett draws upon her experiences, as well as research and the experiences of others, to draw a portrait of a disorder that many do not know exist, and most do not understand. PMDD has become a bit of a buzzword disorder these last few years, and I was eager to read this book as soon as I saw it was available to read in advance. The research is meticulous, and Woollett makes many fascinating (and relevant) connections to neurodivergent conditions, gender and sex differences, surveillance capitalism, and conservative politics. The book honours that this condition (and hormonal disorders or sensitivities in general) seldom has concrete conclusions and explanations, but nonetheless a reader will find many valuable insights here. I recommend this to anyone who’s been curious about the condition, or someone who wants to understand more about hormonal health. Interestingly, I sought this book because of my history with premenstrual dysphoria, which I know is somehow connected to my autism. Though the blur does not mention any connections to neurodivergent conditions or autism, it was interesting to discover how connected the two conditions can be.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Scribe for sending me a copy of this book

Hell Days is an undeniably carefully researched nonfiction book on premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). It is informative and highlights the lack of understanding of menstruating people. I felt a deep sense of despair reading this, that being controlled by your hormones is permanent. These are not the points that Laura Elizabeth Woollett is trying to make but I found myself ruminating negatively anyway. I think Hell Days is a great book and many people will find it interesting, it just threw me for a loop.