If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk,
if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Although stress doesn’t cause infertility, infertility often causes stress. Multiple studies have found that infertility in both women and men often increases stress, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. When a round of fertility treatments proves to be unsuccessful or a couple suffers pregnancy lose, women and couples can experience deep feelings of grief and loss.
In fact, one study of 200 couples who visited a fertility clinic found that half of the women and 15% of the men said that infertility was the most traumatic experience of their lives. Men are much more involved in the process than in days of old. They also may feel the perinatal loss very deeply. Even if men don't experience the physical pain of that loss, the emotional pain they feel is very real. It’s time to make the mental health of you and your partner a priority and try these strategies… 1. Focus on the present. You can’t change the past, so stop reliving the “should haves” and “could have's.” You can’t control the future either, so stop pre-living worries and anxieties. Try to stay in the present, because it’s the only place you can really choose to behave in ways that can reduce stress and anxiety. 2. Practice self-care. That means treating yourself even half as well as you treat your family and friends. Get enough sleep, exercise, time alone, and time with others to make yourself feel cared for. Practice being your own best friend! 3. Talk to yourself. What we say to ourselves is powerful, so give yourself some encouragement and grace. If others remind you that there’s always a way to build a family, it usually has little or no effect. But if you remind yourself that there’s always a way, your mood can actually lift. 4. Talk to others. There are many reasons to be reluctant about discussing infertility with family, friends, or in the workplace. You may want to keep it private because you don’t want unsolicited advice, you don’t want to hear everyone else’s fertility stories, or because you feel there is a stigma attached to infertility. Support groups have been proven to help couples and individuals feel that they are in a community with others who understand what you're going through. Consider joining our infertility support group or start small with individual or couples therapy. Just reach out, I would love to support your journey!
0 Comments
|
AuthorHi! I'm Dr. Linda Abdelsayed. These are just some articles I've created on various life topics. Hope you find them helpful! Check out more about me on the About and Contact tabs above!
Archives
April 2024
|