It’s no secret that fertility problems can be stressful and taxing for women who want to have children.
Infertility can damage relationships and plot couples on a life-consuming course of fertility treatments.
A new study shows that infertility may even increase a woman’s risk for mental disorders.
The authors defined mental disorders as: alcohol and intoxicant abuse; schizophrenia and psychoses; affective disorders including depression; anxiety, adjustment and obsessive compulsive disorder; eating disorders; and other mental disorders.
In the Danish study of nearly 100,000 women, women who remained childless after an initial appointment with a fertility specialist were 18% more likely to be hospitalized for all mental disorders than the women who eventually had a baby.
Infertility also increased the risk for alcohol/substance abuse by 103%, schizophrenia by 47% and other mental disorders by 43%.
These data provide important information for counselors assisting women struggling with infertility and may help physicians provide better care for their female patients.
