We all know that it isn’t easy for women to undergo fertility treatments. According to the latest studies the situation could turn out to be so distressing that women become more susceptible to PTSD. This stands for post-traumatic stress disorder. The latest study showed that 50% of the patients meet the criteria for PTSD so they might be diagnosed with the condition.
Why are the new findings important?
This result is 6 times higher than the number of people of the general population who are affected by PTSD. Usually the percentage is 8%. The new findings suggest that the criteria of the condition should be modified. This should also include other traumatic experiences such as infertility.
Current perception
According to the current definition of PTSD the patients are supposed to have experienced a life threatening situation or another event that caused them some injury. This definition should be a bit expanded so that it would also include life expectations.
It is normal for women to wish to have a family and to have children to carry on their genetic code. All people have these instincts. If all this is threatened, although the life of people isn’t threatened, there is the possibility that they won’t achieve everything that they wanted from their life.
For the future
The results of the studies suggest that the women who have to undergo treatments of this kind should receive more extensive counseling. This way it will become easier for them to cope with the physical and emotional distress. As a result there would be fewer people affected by PTSD.
How to cope
Infertility means that a couple is not able to have a baby. There are also a lot of couples who have a child, but they start having difficulties in the moment when they try to conceive a second child. This is known as secondary infertility. This is something like an earthquake and then there are some secondary shocks as well.
The women who already had this experience say that the feelings they had were more than just grief and depression. The study was conducted with the help of 146 women and about 46% of them claimed that they had symptoms that met the criteria of PTSD. A lot of women claim that they feel bad when they see any reminders of the fact that they can’t have a baby such as every day triggers the likes of diaper commercials.
