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Can stress make you infertile? The answer appears to be that yes. Many researchers have been investigating the connection between stress and infertility. Increasingly, such research is indicating that stress can be a contributing factor in infertility problems.
Why?
When you are subjected to stresses, whether they are mental stresses such as a phobia or environmental such as extreme heat, your brain sends signals throughout your body to prepare it to face whatever survival challenges that the stress may pose. In a way, it is as if you body is preparing for war. It knows that there is a threat, because you are feeling stressed. Therefore, the mind sets up its defenses in order to protect its host – the body.
How does stress cause infertility?
Stress affects the hypothalamus, a specific area in the brain. The hypothalamus secretes a variety of hormones which travel through the blood to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is also called the hypophysis. Stress can interfere with the hormone levels, which can result in a variety of symptoms ranging from a lack of desire for sex to the failure of the ovary to release its egg in the normal manner.
The hormones that control ovulation are:
The hypothalamus creates hormones that are sent to the pituitary gland, which causes it to release the FSH and LH hormones. Thereafter, for example, the LH hormone would stimulate the ovaries to produce the estrogen hormone. If even one of these hormones is out of step with the others, ovulation can be impeded.
How to Overcome the Effects of Stress
Stress can build upon itself. For example, you feel stressed because you want to become pregnant, every month when you learn that it did not occur, you become more stress, but you can't become pregnant because you are stressed, which makes you more stressed – it is a self fueling cycle. It is, however, a cycle that can be broken.
Is Stress Sex Biased?
Stress effects both men and women equally. Just as extreme stress may impede ovulation, some studies have shown that extreme stress may reduce sperm production. Infertility is stressful to both parties involved. Combined with the everyday stress of life and you may find that you are both so much on the edge that you are arguing over the silliest things.
Always consult your doctor for medical advice.
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