More and more scientists today are coming to the conclusion that the mental state of patients, and especially their psychological and psycho-emotional characteristics, has a huge impact on fertility and, accordingly, on the outcome of infertility treatment.
A large number of studies that failed to identify the physical cause of infertility concluded that emotional stress is the leading cause of infertility in women. In particular, a high level of anxiety in relationships, work, and finances provokes reproductive disorders.
Thus, an analysis of the emotional and sexual spheres in women with so-called "unexplained" infertility revealed that 71.4% of women had emotional lability, feelings of inferiority, loneliness, and changes in emotional state on the days of the previous menstruation ("pregnancy expectancy syndrome"). Decreased or absent libido was observed in 52.4% of patients, and rare or absent orgasm in 61.9%.
In another study, emotional disturbances were found in 92% of the infertile women examined, 53.3% had chronic and 14% had acute stressful situations. In more than half of the patients, psychotraumatic situations were multifactorial and lasted from 1 to 10 years. An increased level of anxiety was detected in 69% of patients.
It has also been established that "unexplained" infertility can be associated with a conflicted childhood, various social factors, unsuccessful family relationships, fear of pregnancy, motherhood, fear of childbirth and postpartum psychosis, and a contradiction between the desire for professional activity and motherhood.
This often leads to apathy and depression, which can be unconscious (subclinical).
The average "types" of women suffering from infertility are described:
1) immature, sensitive, picky women who are childishly capricious towards their husbands and prone to functional disorders;
2) aggressively dominant women who do not recognize their femininity;
3) maternal women who transfer their maternal instincts to their husbands;
4) women who have devoted themselves to their careers or other emotional interests.
In other words, a woman suffering from infertility most often either consciously rejects the maternal role and the female role in general, or is not ready for it at all.
Failure to understand the psychological causes of infertility leads to secondary psycho-emotional disorders. Painful fixation on one's own infertility, obsession with the idea of motherhood, combined with high excitability, form a syndrome of reproductive inferiority, which leads to further disorders of the psycho-emotional and sexual spheres.
In a situation of infertility, many women see in vitro fertilization (IVF) as their only hope. However, in this state, the body is not capable of a full-fledged pregnancy, whether it is a self-conceived fetus or an artificially implanted one. There is scientific evidence that chronic stress significantly increases the likelihood of a negative outcome of IVF treatment, as well as complications during pregnancy and miscarriages.
A developing fetus is very sensitive to changes in the internal (maternal) and external environment that occur during important periods of cellular reproduction, differentiation, and maturation. If a pregnant woman is under stress, various disorders occur in her body, which undoubtedly affects the child, creating a predisposition to further diseases. American scientists have even formed a hypothesis about the dependence of health and disease on individual developmental characteristics (DOHAD), according to which an increased risk of disease in adulthood arises from an unfavorable prenatal environment.
That is why infertility patients need to undergo a psychological examination and psychotherapy to eliminate these sources of stress (psycho-trauma and conflicts) that negatively affect the reproductive system.
Transcranial electrical brain stimulation (TENS) is a good additional non-drug treatment. It has a positive effect on the processes of repair and improvement of the psychophysiological status of a person, reduces anxiety and depression.
Ketamine infusion treatment is a promising method of treating psychoemotional imbalance caused by chronic stress. By combining psychotherapy with ketamine infusions, transcranial electrical stimulation, Neurohelp brain rehabilitation, body-oriented therapy, and art therapy, a significant improvement in patients' health can be achieved.
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy for Women's Reproductive Health Disorders
