Stress is a word that almost all of us relate to and talk about, but reproductive health—not so much. Reproductive health in India has been and continues to be a hush-hush topic. These two terms—one which is talked about so much and one which is not even whispered—are different yet extremely interdependent.
Stress is a natural feeling of not being able to cope with specific demands and events until it becomes hard to manage and starts to have a detrimental effect on a person and the people around them.
In today’s rat racing world, 43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. A survey conducted reveals that one in every three people’s personal life is affected due to work stress.
Taking the case of Uttar Pradesh, a survey conducted by the Psychiatry Department of the King George Medical University (KGMU) in 2019 found that the prevalence of stress was very high among people in Uttar Pradesh, with financial difficulties being the top cause.
The above survey conducted on 12,000 respondents, mainly in small towns of the state, found that a whopping 90% of the people had experienced stress in the past year due to poverty and financial difficulties.
Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state in India. Along with this many people comes competition for work, housing, healthcare and whatnot. All this leads to stress becoming a very common entity found in people here.
We are aware of what leads to stress, but do we really know what stress leads to or the harmful impacts it has, especially on reproductive health?
The Effects Of Stress On Reproductive Health
Scientists identify that stress boosts levels of stress hormones that interfere with the sex hormones leading to the suppression of sperm count, ovulation and sexual activity.
Psychological stress disrupts reproductive health by encouraging the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (this complicated term refers to a type of unstable molecule that contains oxygen and that easily reacts with other molecules in a cell and can cause cell death) and thereby oxidative stress (OS).
The increased OS may affect the functioning of the ovary, oocyte (a cell in an ovary) quality and cause female reproductive health disorders.
Stress is an unseen factor affecting contemporary living and is strongly associated with many diseases, including polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women. PCOS itself is known to cause stress, particularly over the physical symptoms of the condition, such as excessive facial and body hair.
It is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. Symptoms of PCOS include menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne and obesity.
In addition, stress-induced sleep disturbances and deprivation affect cortisol or stress hormones and the circadian endocrine rhythm (circadian rhythms are regular, daily cycles of biological processes, including expected variations in the circulating levels of hormones), causing hormonal imbalances, cardiovascular disease, depression, infertility, etc.
Henceforth, stress—a universal problem, is leading to harmful effects on both male and female’s reproductive health.
So, we should spread awareness regarding stress and its relation to reproductive health rather than making it a topic not talked about. Let’s break the stigma.
Let’s open the topic for discussion so that people, especially teens—who are usually not informed about reproductive health, can stay safe and healthy by adopting a lifestyle and practice benefiting them mentally and physically, especially in terms of reproductive health.