Fertility Treatment: 5 Keys to Coping
Being psychologically prepared to cope with fertility treatment is essential.
This is an unknown journey for which we have to prepare our body, mind and also emotions so that we can effectively deal with the key moments throughout treatment.
Knowing how to manage stress, anxiety and changing emotions over the course of assisted reproduction treatment is a way to guarantee success.
By receiving the appropriate emotional support from the beginning, we will receive guidance on the different stages of each process as well as our emotional needs. We will learn effective problem-solving strategies in times of uncertainty, medical tests and treatments, etc.
Anxiety, worry, uncertainty and fear in the face of a long‑awaited pregnancy can appear at any time. These thoughts can become intrusive when they pop into our heads time and time again, do not go away and cause us to feel angst or distress; these feelings can negatively impact our quality of life.
How to keep intrusive thoughts at bay during Fertility Treatment
Next we have proposed some tips to keep intrusive thoughts at bay so they do not become the centre of our attention:
- Stay busy with activities that require all of your attention. Both pleasant activities such as gardening, taking care of pets, dancing or cooking, as well as other, more methodical ones that require concentration such as organising the house, tidying up, washing dishes, etc., can help us to compete cognitively with our worries, thus helping us to win the battle against any disturbing thoughts.
- Get exercise. In addition to releasing internal endorphins, getting regular exercise helps us to relax, improves our sleep and reduces anxiety. If it is a group activity, you will also be surrounding yourself with people who share your hobbies and enjoy having a good time together.
- Seek the calm. You may think that by getting involved in tons of activities there will be no time for ruminating. However, be careful to not get stressed: anxiety attracts thoughts that generate even more anxiety and which give rise to fears and insecurities due to exhaustion.
- Talk about what is worrying you with whoever really listens to you. Talking means sharing and reframing the situation. As we express our concerns we get our ideas into order, vent our emotions and can obtain other points of view that will help us to analyse the situation.
- Question your worries. When we are anxious we can make mountains out of mole hills to the point of making our fears become irrational. A method to reflect based on the problem-solving technique is the following: on a piece of paper, write down what worries you in a clear and concise way. Ask yourself if you are doing everything in your power to deal with it. If you are, that means it is not up to you, so you are not going to fix anything by worrying about it. Distract yourself as we have discussed in the previous steps. On the other hand, if you think that you can still do something more, get to work and do it, and once you have done it, trust in the process and be patient. To remain patient and manage any uncertainty, occupy your time again with pleasant activities and dedicating time to yourself.
Finally, take a specific moment out of your day to question your concerns. Don’t do it anytime throughout the day or in any place. When you are resting, rest. When you are cooking, enjoy the cooking, the aromas, the flavours, the moment. When you are filling your time with a pleasant activity, let yourself become immersed in that activity and enjoy it with all your senses. Make sure to apply the principle of the «here and now» of Mindfulness – it has many benefits.
If a negative thought pops into your head, tell yourself: «right now I am enjoying a moment of calm that is good for me. Later I will spend some time thinking about what is worrying me». Then continue to focus all of your attention on the activity at hand.
There is a Chinese proverb that says: “If a problem has a solution, there is no need to worry. If it doesn’t have a solution, then there is no use in worrying». Worrying serves to help us assess different options to solve a problem. When the act of worrying stops fulfilling its function, i.e. when we continue worrying even if the situation no longer depends on us, then it is no longer adaptive.
In short, when we are dealing with anxiety we tend to «manufacture» thoughts that in turn create even more anxiety. As a result and we can enter into a vicious cycle that affects us negatively and which will prove difficult to control. If we learn to keep anxious thoughts at bay we will be able to achieve inner peace and proper emotional balance.
Are you going to begin fertility treatment? Let’s request an appointment with us
You know that you can count on our help from the start. To make it easier for you, your first appointment will be free of charge!
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Araceli Ortega Martínez – Psychologist
Ortega Psychology, collaborating psychology practice associated with URE Centro Gutenberg
