Does infertility cause depression or depression causes infertility? This is a never ending debate but the fact is that infertility and depression often go hand in hand. Women with a history or undergoing an infertility treatment in Delhi are prone to depression and the ones already fighting with depression have high chances of attaining infertility.
In women, the inability to conceive along with the pressure from family often results in sadness, irritation and crying tendencies leading to depression.
In men, depression causes infertility as stress reduces the sperm count and the motility of the sperm. Depression hampers the sperm parameters which further creates difficulty in erection and can even lead to impotency. Men might get hesitant in talking about their feelings, but they must seek medical advice and get the treatment done as early as possible.
Symptoms of depression
A lot of people who are suffering from infertility feel depressed most of the time. Being sad for unhappy for a shorter duration is fine but prolonged feeling of down or irritation is what depression is.
- Feeling upset and sad
- Getting suicidal feelings
- Over eating or loss of appetite
- Feeling irritated and frustrated and feel like crying
- Inability to concentrate
- Difficulty in sleeping or sleeping a lot
When these symptoms start sounding relatable, consult the best IVF doctor in Delhi as early as possible.
Depression: Cause for Infertility
During the time of conception, the couple should try to be happy and stress free, since stress leads to depression which in turn hampers conception.
Infertility is closely related to feelings like stress, tension, anger, anxiety, relationship issues, guilt etc. which results in depression. Depressed people also exhibit these lifestyle changes like weight fluctuations, eating junk food etc. which has a negative effect on fertility.
Treating Depression
If a couple is planning for pregnancy, the treatment for infertility becomes their topmost priority before conception. Such couples are advised to cut out on caffeine as it causes anxiety and alcohol as it makes depression worse. They are also advised to sleep properly and take ample amount of sleep since disturbed/less sleep leads to depression. It is commonly believed that one should not take antidepressants when trying to conceive. Antidepressants do interfere with fertility but there are some medicines which can help in treating depression without having any harmful effects.
Depressed patients are often treated via counseling sessions, talk therapy, support groups and nonharmful antidepressants.
- Talk therapy – In this, the patient talks about his feelings and what he thinks to a counsellor or psychologist. The counselor in return guides them on how to make changes in life to get rid of depression.
- Support Groups – In this, the patient is made to join a group of people fighting against depression to discuss and share his feelings and treatment with other patients for mental healing.
- Medicine – In some cases, doctors may prescribe some nonharmful antidepressants which helps in reducing the symptoms of depression.
Based on the condition of the patient, these treatments can be done alone or as a combination of all the treatments. It is necessary to consultant an expert doctor and gets the treatment done when a couple is planning to conceive since depression can cause ill affects on the baby as well.
Importance of treating depression
- Depression leads to social isolation and marital issues.
- The depressed person faces anger issues, anxiety and suffers from low self
- It can also cause sexual dysfunction.
- The IVF success rate in depressed patient is really low.
Couples go to infertility clinics to get their infertility-related medical conditions treated. But at times, there are cases when the cause of infertility is unknown, these are the cases where depression can be the root cause. Failed IVF attempts without any medical conditions are also the reason of infertility caused due to depression.
Visit Gaudium IVF, the best IVF centre in Delhi if you are facing depression with infertility. Consult our team of doctors for the best treatment and medications suitable in your condition.
Gaudium IVF offers an exclusive counseling program,
MANTRANA assists patients in dealing with stress and in maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships while fighting infertility.
For getting an expert consultation from the leading infertility specialist Dr. Manika Khanna, get an appointment today.