Depression: Will it Hinder My Fertility?

For anyone who has ever suffered from depression knows just how much it can effect now only our emotional health but our physical health as well. It can cause health problems dealing from everything from migraine headaches to nutrition problems. But many are not aware of how depression can actually hinder fertility. Here is a look at how depression can effect our fertility and ability to successfully conceive.

As most people know, in order for couples to conceive and go on to have a baby the woman must be ovulating and producing eggs that can be fertilized. Being depressed and stressed out can really have a negative effect on a woman's ability to ovulate. It can lead to a woman having irregular or odd periods to having no periods at all thus making conceiving very difficult or even impossible.
It is important to note that depression can not only affect a woman's fertility but a man's fertility as well. Depression can have a serious effect on their sperm count and by actually lowering it. While it may not be the most common reason for hindering a man's fertility studies show it can happen making conception very difficult for some couples.

Lastly depression can hinder fertility in ways that couples may not even know. They may think they are suffering from other physical problems that are affecting their fertility leading them to just getting more stressed out and not being able to pinpoint why they are not conceiving. There are many stories of couples who have been trying to conceive with no success and not knowing what the issue was, they went on to see many specialists who were not able to tell them exactly why they were having problems having a baby causing them more stress. It can turn into a vicious cycle leading to even more problems including marital issues.

While there is no exact "cure" for being depressed there are ways to help. Many people find help by taking an antidepressant prescribed by their doctor or by seeing a therapist to help them work through their issues. Sometimes one could do a combination of these two methods and find great success.

Many couples have found that once they take a break from the stress of trying to conceive and just let nature take its' course for a while find that they surprisingly will conceive all on their own. The best thing to do is to talk to your doctor and see what he or she recommends so you can get try to gain control of your fertility once again.

Sources Cited: http://www.babyhopes.com/articles/depression-fertility.html