According to a recent report by McKinsey, 30% of women globally undergoing fertility assistance report symptoms of anxiety and depression. In a separate UK study, 40% of women experiencing infertility have had suicidal thoughts.
The importance of getting proper fertility care is therefore of vital importance. The question must be, how can we support women better? And what are the conditions and symptoms contributing to infertility and the success of IVF and egg freezing beyond the purely medical?
The rise of infertility suggests we need to take a wider-angle lens to better understand the disturbances of this otherwise natural biological occurrence. Except for a few conditions which can inhibit this natural process, conception is a physiological biological procedure that women are specifically designed for. Conception is not something that women in fact do, it is something that is done for them. Yes, they play the first card, but the rest happens to them and for them by nature itself. Equally, pregnancy and ‘giving’ birth are also not something that women do. These also happen to them, for them. Women are simply the vessel, the cocoon, the partner of these great forces of nature.
When I work with a client experiencing anxiety, overwhelm or any fear symptoms, it’s helpful to help them see that in fact, she is not in fact doing this, or indeed doing anything wrong. She is not solely responsible for this process. By simply changing this perspective I find that women can get some comfort and re-assurance whilst staying on their journey. A great daily mantra can be,
“I am not alone with this. Life is doing this with me, nature is working through me.”
And as a result, any blame or shame that she may carry for unsuccessful attempts to successfully conceive seem to lesson.
By Karin Locher, Psychosomatic Trauma Therapist
About Karin:
Karin Locher is a visionary in the field of mind and body healing. Her extraordinary and personal insight into the mind-body-spirit relationship inspires her unique methodology of Spatial Medicine; changing mind-set, heart-set and health-set to support the autonomic nervous system to enable recovery and live more fully. Karin is a psychosomatic trauma therapist, myofascial specialist and educator of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
www.centreforspatialmedicine.com
