Some Infertile Women More Prone to Mental Illness
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iStock/Thinkstock(CARDIFF, Wales) — Infertility can be devastating for a couple trying but failing to have a child and it’s a fact of life for about 15 percent of couples in the U.S.
Dr. Sofia Gameiro at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom says the psychological side-effects from the inability to conceive include depression, anger, and frustration.
Based on a study of more than 7,100 women in the Netherlands who underwent fertility treatments over a five-year span, Gameiro learned that those who were not able to have children and refused to accept that reality were 2.8 times more likely to develop problems associated with mental illness than women willing to move past their problem.
Even women who previously gave birth but couldn’t expand their families were 1.5 times at greater risk of mental illness if they were unable to let go of their desire to have more kids.
Although each case is different, Gameiro suggested that attempting to give up the idea of having children might help women in the long term for their own psychological well-being. She suggested that focusing on other goals, such as a career, might help relieve some of the angst of infertility.
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