How Infertility Impacts Your Mental Health

The difficulties you face trying to conceive a child can have a significant impact on your physical and emotional health. Infertility may also be playing a bigger factor in your mental health than you even realize.

At Urology Specialist Group, the compassionate medical team understands how infertility can affect your health and wellness. In addition to providing the highest standard in diagnostic care, the urology team customizes treatment to address the root cause of infertility in you or your partner. They can also provide you with resources to protect your mental health throughout your infertility treatments and beyond. 

The mental side effects of infertility

In the initial stages of your struggle to conceive, you may feel a lot of different emotions. There’s anger, guilt, and constant worry about what’s wrong and why you can’t get pregnant.

Even after a diagnosis of your fertility issues, you may still go through an emotional storm, always wondering what will happen next and why this is happening to you.

Excess stress and anxious feelings soon become overwhelming, leaving you feeling depressed and anxious. Depression and anxiety may also have influence over your own self-esteem and even your sexual confidence.

Ongoing concerns over your women’s health issues or your partner’s erectile dysfunction may compound the problem. These issues can trigger even more complications in your sex life and your relationship with your partner, friends, and loved ones. 

Fertility treatments and mental health issues

Infertility in itself can be a whirlwind ride of uncertainty and emotions. Your initial anger and fear suddenly turn to hope when you begin undergoing treatment to address the cause of your infertility.

Throughout your treatment, your religious beliefs and faith may be tested, and the constant worry about your financial stability may never leave your mind. Every medical appointment might become the focus of all your anxieties, causing you to dread your journey to parenthood instead of enjoying it.

Without the attention to your mental health throughout your infertility treatment, you may be at increased risk for a long-term struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. 

Don’t ignore anxieties and other warning signs

While it’s true that infertility takes an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual toll on your life, the reality is that help is available. When you realize you’re not able to shake off feelings of depression or worsening anxieties, it’s time to look for help. 

The urology team at Urology Specialist Group provides guidance and support to help you find a fertility counselor who can work with you both one-on-one and with your partner. Fertility counselors are specially trained in addressing the many issues that go hand-in-hand with the infertility struggle, including: 

Through talk therapy and other strategies, the counselor can teach you coping skills you need to manage your fertility journey.

Without dealing with the underlying mental health issues directly and promptly, you may be inadvertently making your fertility struggle harder. Stress and anxiety have a physical effect on the body and may be contributing to your inability to conceive.

By addressing issues affecting your mental health, you can have a positive impact on your physical health. Without the chronic worry and fear, you can better focus your attention on the many treatment options available that increase your chances of a successful pregnancy.

If you’re facing infertility issues, there’s no reason to do it alone. Schedule an evaluation at Urology Specialist Group today using the online booking feature or by calling one of our two offices

 

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