By Dr.Sunayana Sukka
Trauma and infertility
One of the most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide is infertility. Globally48 million couples are thought to be impacted. “Infertility” is here approached beyond the medical definition provided by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) as ‘a failure to conceive after regular unprotected sexual intercourse for one year.’ It may occur due to female factors, male factors or sometimes it is due to unexplained infertility.
Lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, diet, and lack of physical activity affect fecundity among both Men and Women. Infertility is considered a stressful journey among couples which leads to unhappy marital life, low quality of life, low self-esteem and sometimes even causes separation or divorce. People suffering from childlessness assume themselves to be vulnerable and experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Infertility and its treatment itself affect people’s lives including emotional turmoil, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, and depression.
It is considered one of the most unattended and unacknowledged problems among couples by everyone to date. There is still a social stigma to talk about fertility issues in families or society. They often feel embarrassed or socially blamed for talking about it. Both men and women suffer from infertility but mostly, women are blamed and socially victimized. It mitigates gender inequality regardless of whether they’re fertile enough or not.
Several studies have claimed a link between trauma and infertility, and have established a strong relationship between them. Stress is seen higher in women than men resulting in devastating effects on their mental health. Many studies quoted that infertile patients undergo a lot of trauma and stress for not being able to get a positive result before their due date. They feel so depressed for not conceiving for the month they had planned. The rising costs of treatments take a financial toll on couples undergoing infertility treatments which usually pull them into traumatized situations with their results.
Psychological interventions during this treatment will be beneficial for individuals who are going through tough times. Due to social taboos or social stigma, it is learned that patients spend a lot of time being depressed and not talking about the issues they are facing with them during their journey. A Psychologist helps the person in dealing with their mental health trauma and aids them to improve their quality of life. Undergoing psychotherapy helps them to delve into psychological illness and achieve positive results in their fertility journey.
