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Understand the Role and Effects of Stress on Infertility

Stress may or may not be a negative component in your journey towards conception

Stress has now become a very common part of our daily life. With the conditions worsening every day, work deadlines building up, and the cracks in relationships caused by various elements in our life, stress is something we have now learned to live with as a normal part of our lives. But what most couples don’t understand is that stress can have an extremely negative impact on infertility as it can disturb both a man and a woman’s hormonal cycle and make it so much more difficult to conceive. It is therefore of the utmost importance to understand the link between stress and infertility and why you must seek help in time. We have tried to explain some of the basic components and the impact of stress.

What is stress?

When you are beset with adverse or demanding circumstances at home or at the workplace, you undergo tremendous mental or emotional upheavals. This situation is said to cause stress. Instead of physical discomfort, it causes a lot of mental turmoil which affects your life and lifestyle adversely. This mental turmoil later gets manifested in various physical problems such as infertility, irregular period cycles, blood pressure, etc.

Different stressful situation we face everyday and its impact

From dawn to dusk we face multiple situations that have a small incremental effect on our mental well being. It could be the early morning traffic on your way to work, the pressure of a deadline to meet as soon as you reach office, the phone call from your child’s school, the quarrel you had with your spouse, or the weekend picnic of your housing complex which you really don’t want to attend. None of these would cause a blowout, but they keep adding up to increasing the stress in your life. Sometimes major life events like losing a job or the death of a loved one cause stress as well. All of this combined can have a severe effect on your physical attributes and contribute significantly to the causes of infertility.

What is infertility?

When a couple tries to conceive through natural means but is unsuccessful after two years of regular and unprotected intercourse. There may be a number of reasons for infertility in either partner such as low sperm count, PCOS, endometriosis, etc. This has become more common amongst couples than it was earlier, leading many people to believe that there is a correlation between the stress of today’s changed lifestyle and the infertility many couples suffer from. But is it really true that stress causes infertility?

The scientific causes of infertility

Before we examine whether stress may affect fertility or not, let us enumerate some of the scientifically proven reasons for infertility-

• Inadequate sperm count
• Incorrect delivery of sperm
• Ill effects of pesticides, chemicals, smoking, drugs, etc.
• Disorders in ovulation
• Cervical or uterine abnormalities
• Damage to Fallopian tube

Does stress cause infertility?

There has been a marked increase in both stress and infertility nowadays. This led people to keep asking themselves ‘Does stress cause infertility?’ The problem with this is that no causal linkage can be conclusively attributed to stress when it comes to infertility. Therefore, no scientific data can be provided to support the truth about stress and fertility. The negative instances of many people suffering equal stress but producing children without any trouble make such a link even more incorrect. We would require studies and surveys on a much larger scale to actually get some data that can help dispel the myths about infertility. Many experts are of the opinion that it actually works the other way round. Infertility is what causes stress, they say. Even though no one can conclusively say that stress would definitely lead to infertility, here are a few simple ways to reduce the stress that can result from an inability to conceive:

• Physical exercise has proven to lead to mental well being. An hour or so of exercise everyday can give great results and you would feel the stress ebbing away miraculously.
• Most people are unable to get the minimum required sleep when they are undergoing stress. This should be corrected immediately. You should push yourself into the habit of going to bed early so that sleep can come easily.
• The best way to disperse the myth about stress causing infertility is to have sex more often. This will help relieve your stress, and would also increase the chance of conception.

The best way to overcome any attributes regarding the link between stress and infertility is to visit a fertility expert. Every couple can experience different effects of stress and therefore it is always advisable to consult a specialist who can guide you through this journey for parenthood. Get in touch with us today to know more about infertility and various treatment options.

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