THURSDAY, May 23 (HealthScoutNews) -- Women who suffer from a particularly severe form of PMS now have another prescription drug available to them -- the well-known anti-depressant Zoloft.

Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride) joins another popular prescription mood-elevator, Prozac (fluoxetine), as U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to treat a number of conditions. These include depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a condition that can be particularly damaging to some women. Zoloft and Prozac specifically have been approved to treat a more severe form of PMS known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

Here's what an article from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has to say about PMDD:

"Three-to-four percent [of women with PMS] suffer severe symptoms that significantly interfere with work and social functioning. This impairing form of premenstrual syndrome, also called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), appears to be an abnormal response to normal hormone changes.

"Researchers are studying what makes some women susceptible to PMDD, including differences in hormone sensitivity, history of other mood disorders, and individual differences in the function of brain chemical messenger systems. Antidepressant medications known to work via serotonin circuits are effective in relieving the premenstrual symptoms. Women with susceptibility to depression may be more vulnerable to the mood-shifting effects of hormones."

Pfizer Inc. is the manufacturer of Zoloft.

Here is the entire NIMH article