Fear of getting pregnant can trigger psychological pregnancy

The symptoms are of a pregnancy and include feeling sick, missed periods, body changes, an enlarged abdomen and breast pain, but the test is simply negative. In this case, it is possible that the woman is experiencing a psychological pregnancy. The psychologist, specialist in obstetric psychology, Elisangela Batista Secco, explains that the diagnosis of pseudocyesisthe scientific name of the disorder, is performed through HCG hormone concentration tests and, in some cases, with ultrasound to complement the analysis.

The causes of psychological pregnancy there can be many, as it all depends on the history of each woman. “Conflicts are unconscious and can be related to both the intense desire to get pregnant and the fear of pregnancy. Situations of loss and confusion related to femininity and the social role that women play often also contribute to the emergence of the disorder,” she explains.

After being diagnosed with pseudocyesis, the woman needs to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment and, often, medical treatment, with the administration of drugs that aim to eliminate the signs of pregnancy. “This process is important because all the symptoms are similar to those of a real pregnancy and are not consciously caused by the woman”, warns the specialist.

family support

Care must be taken when dealing with a woman who has gone through a psychological pregnancy, so the specialist explains that psychotherapeutic treatment often extends to the patient’s husband and family. “Women and family members in general are very sad, because the possibility of being pregnant generates a series of expectations regarding the expectation of the baby, and often all this suffering and frustration can give rise to depressive conditions”, she warns.

To help, the woman’s family needs to support her so she doesn’t feel alone. In addition, it is important that people around, such as friends and relatives, do not pressure you trying to convince you not to get pregnant. “Even after the diagnosis that there is no baby in the woman’s uterus, she cannot control the symptoms. It is absolutely involuntary,” she explains.

The doctor also warns that the chances of recurrence of the disorder are few, but they do exist. “In most cases, drug treatment associated with therapy and family support allows for a favorable prognosis. But in more severe cases, when the pseudocyesis is associated with other factors, such as psychosis, there are greater chances of recurrence”, concludes the psychologist.