Can psycho-emotional shock lead to early menopause, infertility, and loss of sexual desire? And what to do to avoid this? We discussed the topic with Svetlana Zhukovskaya, assistant at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Belarusian State Medical University.
“In August, many girls and women were detained or spent several days in great anxiety, trying to find their detained sons, husbands, and fathers. Could this stress cause gynecological problems?
- Undoubtedly. Women's health is based on a certain rhythm of hormone production, which ensures a normal menstrual cycle and the ability to conceive (fertility), and prevents the development of certain gynecological diseases.
Regulation of the menstrual cycle is a multi-stage “cascade” that begins in the cerebral cortex and structures of the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala). The main role in this process is played by neuropeptides (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, kiss-peptin) and the hormone melatonin. Stressful situations directly affect the processes of synthesis and consumption of these substances, as a result of which the most important link in the regulation of the menstrual cycle is disrupted.
It is the limbic system that is responsible for our emotions - primarily for the reactions of fear and anger that we have to face in situations that threaten our health and life.
Gradation of stress levels
The severity of the stress response and its health consequences may depend on the intensity of the stressful event.
- Great stress can cause situations that pose a threat to the life and health of a woman, as well as her loved ones. These are natural disasters, military actions, being in captivity, death and serious illnesses.
- Moderate-intensity stress includes events that have high personal significance, but do not pose a direct threat to life. These are divorces, moving, financial losses, fear of unemployment.
- Low-level stress is caused by most everyday situations.
An acute reaction to stress when the necessary help is not provided can lead to long-term chronic stress and post-traumatic disorders. How to properly help in this case is described in sufficient detail in my online course “Psychotherapy of Emotional Disorders.”
However, sometimes even the most insignificant event from a public point of view can cause negative health consequences.
It depends on individual characteristics, such as stress resistance, level of self-esteem, anxiety, aggressiveness, victimization.
Amenorrhea, uterine bleeding, candidiasis
— What gynecological problems can be caused by experiencing acute stress and after what period will this manifest itself?
— The first alarm bell is usually menstrual irregularities , which can be observed immediately after stress.
- cycle prolongation : delay of menstruation for 10 or more days;
- shortening of the cycle : the onset of menstruation 10 or more days earlier than usual (the normal duration of the menstrual cycle is 24-38 days; inter-cycle differences in cycle duration can normally be up to 10 days);
- complete cessation of menstruation: functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (this problem was previously called “wartime amenorrhea”);
- heavy uterine bleeding (not only during menstruation): disruption of the hormonal regulation of the menstrual cycle can lead to anovulation (when the egg does not “come out” of the follicle in the ovary), the endometrium (inner mucous lining of the uterus) in this situation grows excessively, which leads to heavy bleeding. This is a serious problem that should never be ignored: sometimes the bleeding can be so massive that surgery and blood transfusions are required.
The second common pathology is a violation of the vaginal biocenosis. Candida colpitis is an inflammation of the vaginal mucosa, which is caused by microscopic yeast-like fungi of the genus Candida.
Scientific articles in the journal of the American Society of Microbiology, Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, confirm that psychological stress, especially chronic stress, suppresses the body's immune defenses and contributes to the overgrowth of Candida fungi.
Acute stress, especially with sleep disturbances and changes in diet, can trigger manifestations of candidiasis.
Features of female stress
The experience of stress by men and women is radically different.
It is psychologically easier for a woman to allow herself to be weak. When an unpleasant situation arises, it is much easier for a woman to seek help, admit her failure, defenselessness, incompetence, and ultimately cry.
But it is more difficult for a woman to allow herself strong feelings - to get angry, to fight back, to say a firm “no” where her boundaries are violated.
The male reaction to severe nervous stress is rather the opposite. This is isolation, withdrawal into internal experiences, switching to other types of activities.
Analyzing the external manifestations of stress reactions (crying, screaming, active gestures, etc.) it may seem that women are more susceptible to stress. However, it is not. It is thanks to bright reactions that it is somewhat easier for a woman to endure difficult situations.
In psychotherapeutic work, the appearance of an emotional response to a problem is considered a positive sign.
It is thanks to the competent experience of negative emotions, which many women intuitively possess, that the possibility of complete healing arises.
Of course, for this you need to understand yourself, your nature, in which feelings and the body play an important role, but not as familiar as our mind.
And our “cultivated” emotions, with which we can be in contact, do not interfere at all, as we used to think, but help to cope with stress.
You can read more about this in my book “How to allow yourself strong experiences, emotions and feelings without destroying yourself and others.”
Hormonal disbalance
Long-term nervous experiences cause hormonal changes, which provoke undesirable health consequences. Hormonal imbalance affects the condition of women, causing the following problems:
- The thyroid gland is not working well, you need to consult an endocrinologist.
- Hormonal imbalance changes taste preferences, cravings for sweets and fatty foods appear. Some women are consumed by nervous experiences, which affects their weight – it increases.
Patient K. says: “I was very worried about the divorce from my husband, I ate a lot of sweets to calm down, my chest began to hurt, my menstrual cycle was off. As a result, the doctor diagnosed a hormonal imbalance.”
- Stress provokes the development of many female diseases, for example, thrush, mastopathy. One of the reasons for its development is hormonal imbalance.
- Delayed menstruation due to stress. This is a common occurrence after long-term experiences; the female body takes a long time to recover from stress.
Thus, the hormonal factor affects weight, health, and general mood. The woman begins to take vitamins, regulate the amount of food she eats, and take medications. But with treatment it is also necessary to relieve stressful experiences.
Video: “How to cope with stress properly”
Symptoms
The signs by which the female body signals the presence of distress are very diverse. I will tell you about the most common ones.
Changes in eating behavior
This includes
- eating stress food
- complete refusal of food,
- the appearance of “strange” taste preferences.
Take this point seriously. Analyze how many times a day do you eat not because you are hungry, but for any other reasons? Or maybe, on the contrary, you refuse to eat because you “have no time” or “nausea”?
Even the slightest change in nutritional needs can lead to serious consequences: anorexia or, conversely, obesity.
Violations of work and rest patterns, sleep problems
Drowsiness and difficulty concentrating during the day, insomnia at night, thinking about the coming day at night, maintaining dialogues in the mind with an invisible interlocutor - all this signals the presence of long-term stress of moderate intensity.
You may experience nightmares, heavy “sticky” dreams, after which you wake up even more tired.
By analyzing dreams, you can tell a lot about a person’s experiences. However, this extensive topic is worthy of a separate publication.
At the moment, my publication is being prepared, dedicated to the study of dreams and the emotions that cause them. I promise that as soon as the publication appears in print, my blog subscribers will be the first to know about it.
Somatic manifestations
Pain of unknown etiology, including headaches, panic attacks, decreased immunity, cardiovascular disorders and problems in the gastrointestinal tract. Constant stress not only contributes to the emergence of diseases, but also aggravates existing chronic diseases.
The emergence of bad habits
To minimize the effects of stress, it is common in our culture not only to “eat stress,” but also to “wash it down.” By the way, it is the argument “drink and everything will pass” that is often heard among less educated segments of the population as a counterweight to psychotherapeutic work with a specialist.
Unfortunately, the myth that alcohol and other substances that affect consciousness are effective against stress still successfully wanders in the heads of our compatriots. However, it has long been proven that drinking alcohol, even in small doses, can only add difficulties to everyday life, but does not solve them.
Personal changes
Women are much better at multitasking at home and at work compared to men.
But at the same time, she often stops noticing that she has already taken on more than she can handle.
Long-term exposure to stress can lead to emotional burnout, in which our body seems to “save” resources.
There is a kind of blocking of emotions “until better times.”
When a person burns out, he becomes like a biorobot, meekly carrying out his activities without attaching feelings and emotions to it.
Another option for personal changes may manifest itself in an increase in the level of anxiety, aggressiveness, and a drop in self-esteem.
At the same time, a woman can become irritable, whiny, capricious, and demonstrative.
Neither option is better than the other. Both of them lead to a deterioration in interpersonal relationships in the family: with children, spouse, parents.
Signs of stress in women
Women experience all stressful and tense situations more than the stronger sex. According to statistics, girls aged 13 to 28 are most prone to tension, nervous breakdowns and depression. This significantly undermines their health and physical development.
The first sign of stress is the inability to cope with an unpleasant situation, which sometimes develops into depression. In the modern world, a woman is surrounded by too much stress: for example, girls have a strong degree of responsibility for themselves, their children and loved ones.
With frequent signs of stress, the level of the body's anti-stress defense drops, adaptation resources are depleted, and the girl becomes depressed.
Symptoms of stress in women can occur for several reasons. Psychologists have developed the following scale:
- Death of children, close relatives, divorce. All these events are accompanied by nervous breakdowns.
- Excess of emotions from positive events, for example, a wedding, a promotion.
When a person is in a state of stress, his consciousness records only negative thoughts, it is focused only on the event caused by stress. In these cases, antidepressants such as sports and exercise will not help.
This period is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- irritability, anger, short-term outbursts of rage, constant breakdowns with loved ones, sometimes with random passers-by;
- isolation, dullness of feelings, loneliness.
Signs of stress will certainly affect your health. Symptoms of depression include:
- Headaches, sudden tearfulness, disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, high blood pressure.
- The body's protective function is destroyed, and the immune system fails.
- Symptoms of stress can include gastritis, irregular or loose stools, heartburn, and diseases of the stomach and intestines.
- Muscle tension and cramps.
- The menstrual cycle is disrupted and thrush appears.
- Increased sweating.
- Skin itching, rash or eczema may occur.
- Lack of appetite and restless sleep.
- Problems concentrating.
- Excessive suspicion.
- Low self-esteem.
- Alcohol abuse.
