A new study found childless women with failed fertility treatments are at elevated risk of hospitalization for psychiatric disorders. It goes without saying that infertility can be devastating for women.

The study, which looked at 100,000 women who had visited a fertility clinic, revealed that those who were never able to get pregnant were twice as likely to be hospitalized for alcoholism or substance abuse and 47 percent more likely to display signs of schizophrenia or be hospitalized for an eating disorder.

A study conducted by Dr. Birgitte Baldur-Felskov, an epidemiologist at the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, found that women who suffer from infertility risk suffering from severe psychiatric disorders resulting in hospitalization.

“Our study showed that women who remained childless after fertility evaluation had an 18 percent higher risk of all mental disorders than the women who did have at least one baby. These higher risks were evident in alcohol and substance abuse, schizophrenia and eating disorders, although appeared lower in affective disorders including depression.”

Experts say the findings suggest that mental health counseling may be indicated when a women is unsuccessful in her attempts to have a child.

All women were followed from the date of their initial fertility investigation until the date of psychiatric event, date of emigration, date of death, date of hospitalisation or 31st December 2008, whichever came first. Such studies, said Dr Baldur-Felskov, could only be possible in somewhere like Denmark, where each citizen has a personal identification number which can be linked to any or all of the country’s diagnostic registries.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” the researchers say. “We were only able to analyze the risk of severe psychiatric disorders resulting in hospitalization.” Other women may have been treated for psychiatric issues on an out-patient basis, or even not treated at all, she pointed out.

British scientists were apparently so shocked by the results that they believe infertility should be classified as a disease.

At Welling Clinic, we consider the infertility issue as a very sensitive subject for the couple who have been trying to conceive for a long time, as by the time a couple visits a Homeopathic specialist like us,  they have already undergone multiple failed IVF cycles. Hence, the mental turmoil is already at its highest degree. For a healthy child, the health of the parents has to be at its best during conception, hence, our treatment not only involves the treatment of the root cause of the infertility but also improving the general health condition which has taken a beating after the heavy hormonal load.