Ways To Deal With Stress During Fertility Treatment

Ways To Deal With Stress During Fertility Treatment : Anxiety, stress, depression, and other mental health issues are hard to deal with when they arise, and it’s not uncommon for some of the same issues to appear while navigating fertility. However, stress causes a physical reaction in your body. Your body responds to stress physically, mentally, or emotionally, which is a perfectly normal part of life.

However, positive affairs can also cause stress in your life. For instance, buying a new home or getting the job of your dreams. Luckily, no matter how your stress is caused, by a positive or negative happening, the human body is created in such a way to respond to it, which is exactly why we have a struggle.

What Is Stress And What Is Its Effect on The Body?

“Stress” refers to the reaction of the sympathetic nervous system to a triggering event. The body releases hormones, like adrenaline, into the bloodstream, ensuring a “fight or flight” reaction that allows us to be more alert, motivated, and geared up to respond to real or perceived danger.

Stress can harm your body if it becomes continuous or chronic. In the short term, chronic stress can lead you to have difficulties falling asleep, cause you to eat poorly, increase substance use, and/or become irritable.

Long-term stress can lead to increased blood pressure, stomach pain, headaches, and can even reduce the functioning of the immune system. From a psychological point of view, chronic stress can eventually cause depression, panic attacks, and anxiety.

Does Stress Affect Fertility?

It’s natural to be sad or upset that you’re not yet pregnant, especially when you’ve been hoping (or waiting) that it would be easy. It’s also normal to feel frustrated about needing Infertility treatment.

A fertility journey has many uncertainties. This is why it is often described as a roller coaster of emotions! Further, stress is not that bad; it’s just a normal part of everybody’s life. However, chronic stress can be considered an issue.

Having said that, does stress reduce the chances of getting pregnant? The prompt answer is perhaps yes, but not in the way you may think. Studies have shown that patients with infertility have similar rates of depression and anxiety as those with other serious medical conditions such as heart disease or cancer.

Chronic stress can lead to depression and anxiety, and the more depressed and anxious you are during treatment, the more likely you are to stop treatment.

What to do to relieve depression or anxiety?

You cannot control the need for fertility treatment, but you can control your emotional response. The purpose of stress management is to try to elicit the relaxation response to counter Fight or Flight. It is not a specific technique, but it describes the internal changes that occur when the mind calms down.

The response is a decrease in heart rate, respiratory rate, and muscle tension, and oxygen levels drop below resting levels. This in turn will reduce the negative physical and psychological effects of chronic stress.

How to Manage and Reduce Stress?

Luckily, there are many approaches to deal with stress, you just need to find a few tools that are best for you. Sometimes it’s as easy as reconnecting to something that has worked for you in the past, like going for long walks or writing a journal. Other times it’s being open to trying something new like gardening or joining a support group. However, it can include both!

Here are eight ways to deal with and reduce stress, for patients undergoing fertility treatments:

Start by making a list of priorities. Before making any new commitments, ask yourself if it is the right time to include something else on your plate.
Get to know yourself a bit! What do you like to do? What are your hobbies? Can you build your support network? How have you dealt with stress previously? There is no one way to deal with stress, but knowing yourself will help you develop a plan that works for you.
Practice consistent self-care. Before starting fertility treatment, make sure to take “fertility breaks” and do something you admire. Explore the activities that were left out when you started treatment. If you feel like you need a longer break after treatment, that’s okay.
Practice your breathing or use a relaxation or mindfulness app.
Similar to breathing work, you can practice repeating a mantra to calm your mind and focus on your goals.
Don’t rely on the internet or Dr. Google. Instead, take the advice of your doctor and your team for any medical questions or concerns.
Seek help from a medical expert who can provide professional advice to manage your fertility treatment. The fertility experts at First Step IVF have worked with many fertility patients over the years, and have provided desired results.
Breathing exercises work wonders to reduce stress immediately. But it’s about finding the right tools for you and your personal challenges. Don’t be discouraged if the first tactic you try doesn’t work, there are so many different things that can help you deal with stress.

Your fertility journey is personal and the way you deal with it emotionally is unique to you. Always remember that there are many tools you can use to help you overcome this in the best possible way. Starting to incorporate some of these into your daily life can go a long way in helping you deal with stress during treatment and beyond. For the IVF in Delhi, Contact First Step IVF now.