Emotions And Infertility
Christmas Holiday Blues Can Damage Your Fertility
The latest research shows how effective talking is in helping treat infertility.
How Stress Impairs Fertility
Many fertility specialists think that reducing stress is the answer to a couple's infertility problems and would solve both emotional and physical issues. Stress releases the fight or flight response in the body. The pituitary gland in the brain interprets this stress as a sign that the person is in trouble and it will slow or shut down some of the body's nonessential functions, including ovulation.
Ovulation is directed by the luteinizing hormone (LH). Even if it does take place, a shortage of luteinizing hormone can put future pregnancies at risk because the hormone regulates progesterone which is responsible for successful implantation of the embryo, maintaining of the pregnancy and aiding in the nourishment of the embryo. Any disruption in progesterone levels can cause recurrent miscarriages or for the woman not to fall pregnant at all.
'Talk' Therapy
Stress is usually higher during the festive season and special occasions, but particularly for couples facing infertility.
While doctors spend millions on new fertility treatments and techniques, they are ignoring an age old and substantially more simple remedy: counselling or 'talk' therapy.
A new study at Emory University showed that a combination of counselling, positive visualisation and relaxation therapy significantly increased fertility rates. Six women in the study regained full fertility, and one showed some signs of restored ovarian function.
Two of these women got pregnant within two months of the counselling.
Men Suffer Too
A research company called Wirthlin Worldwide surveyed a sample of the population and found that during the festive season, 43% of women of child bearing age, reported an increase in stress, and 40% of men aged between 35 and 54, said they were more stressed too. Men who suffer from stress conditions can have infertility problems, including lowered sperm count, disinterest in sex, inability to have an erection and other intimacy difficulties.
As well as damaging fertility, this can have wider implications, such as affecting how he relates to family members and causing significant marital disharmony.
'Infertility treatments that incorporate the services of a mental health professional can help patients alleviate persistent feelings of depression, improve diminished self-esteem and lead patients to strengthen their marital relationship and return to a satisfying sexual life', said a therapist at the Family Counseling and Resource Center in Zionsville.
So perhaps the best present you could give each other this Christmas is the space to talk and a time to relax.
There is mounting evidence to suggest that our fast paced, rat race lifestyles are having a direct impact on our ability to have children.
