Infertility and mental health have been linked for ages as women suffering from infertility tend to report anxiety and depression. The inability to achieve the expectation, the dream, or the plan to have kids can take a heavy toll on the mental health of couples, more so in women. It is estimated that one in every eight couples struggle with pregnancy or sustaining the pregnancy. The feelings around infertility include anger, shame, grief or persistent sadness. The feeling of being isolated and stigmatized around other couples can take the shape of profound loss and life crisis.
Infertility is termed as the failure to conceive a child after a year of consistent, unprotected sexual intercourse or a person's incapacity to reproduce with his or her partner. Miracle IVF Hospital is one of the most acclaimed IVF hospitals in Bangalore deals with several such cases with their team of IVF specialists to help couples fulfill the dream of their life.
Causes of Negative impact on Mental health
- Infertility and the corresponding treatment can be highly stressful and interfere with multiple aspects of life, family, work, relationships.
- Higher rates of failure in fertility treatments directly impacts the sense of hope, replacing it with a sense of loss.
- The invasive nature of medical treatments, tests and examinations and the persistent pursuit of parenthood without success, impacts the positive approach a person essentially needs to sustain and live a happy life.
- Ignorance to mental health can cause major damage subsequently as the battle against infertility progresses.
Tips to Manage mental health while dealing with infertility
- Allow yourself to feel the grief. Crying and letting out the frustration or grief can help in managing mental health in the long run. Denial does more damage than good.
- Convince yourself that your partner or spouse may have a completely different way of dealing with grief or sorrow. Comparing their coping mechanism to yours can create complex and unsettling emotions that could adversely impact your mental health in the long run.
- Share the grief, problems and doubts with your spouse. Speaking your heart and sharing your feelings can be a major help. So let your partner know how you feel and how you need to be helped. Let them help in dealing with the process as you are in this together.
- Learn more about it. The stress usually stems from the uncertainty about the future. Speaking to people who have experienced a similar journey or just staying more informed about the treatments, processes and progress can calm you to some extent if not give a crystal clear picture of the future.
- Connect with support groups who offer help and support through counseling or just more comfortable conversations around the topic to ease up the stigma associated with the issue.
Very few of the people struggling with mental health and mental well being sought to get medical help. The count is as low as 7% of the people experiencing the challenges. Mental health care like infertility counseling or psychotherapy can help in reducing the stress associated with the journey of infertility. Miracle IVF Hospital is one of the most trusted IVF clinics in Bangalore with a team of IVF specialists led by Dr. Rekha Rajendrakumar. So, the prime advice is always to seek medical advice instead of losing hope and seek for medical assistance when experiencing any kind of persistent unusual emotional or mental fluctuations. The earlier you seek help, the easier it gets to cope with the situation.