Health is always important, just like physical health. It is essential to take care of ourselves inside and out to enjoy iron health, and that implies attending to our emotions, our feelings, and asking for help whenever necessary. And if it is important to take care of ourselves throughout our lives, perhaps in the pregnancy stage it will become much more relevant.
We talked with the perinatal psychologist Natalia No gal about mental health and pregnancy: why does depression or anxiety occur during the gestation period? What tips are the most effective to deal with this anxiety, depression or stress? Let’s see it!
Why can you feel anxious or depressed during pregnancy?
One of the classic concerns or questions when it comes to getting is the reason for stress, anxiety or depression. Generally we think that it is a very happy stage of our lives, and in fact it is so in many cases, but in others it is not so much.
Natalia No gal tells us that, at this vital stage in a woman’s life, the body has a lot to say. Hormones shoot up and emotional states that have been underlying the person for a long time can be increased, for example when there is a tendency to depression or anxiety. In these cases the symptoms can be increased.
But not everything has to do with the organism, as the environment or vital context in which we find ourselves also has a lot to say. Among the most common reasons for suffering from anxiety or depression during pregnancy is the feeling, whether or not you have the support of your partner, whether or not you have the help of your mother… All of this can increase the feeling of emptiness. And sadness. Other very common causes are related to professional consequences, the fact of seeing a woman’s professional career paralyzed, the fear of losing the pregnancy or that our baby is fine. All this generates a lot of worry and anxiety states.
And these states of anxiety, for their part, can affect the baby’s emotions. The perinatal psychologist tells us that this emotional state has consequences for our future child “on a socio-cognitive level, on a behavioral level and on an emotional level.”
What can you do to deal with anxiety or depression in pregnancy?
If a woman, for whatever reasons, suffers from anxiety or depression during pregnancy, the main thing is to ask for help. Managing emotions requires psychological help, because the sooner a remedy is applied, the easier it will be to treat it effectively.
Today the most used therapies, according to Natalia No gal, are short-term therapeutic processes, since results are usually seen and have positive consequences in a short period of time. So the most accurate recommendation to overcome this situation is to put yourself in the hands of an, to feel better as soon as possible.
As a general guideline, he explains, we can establish a series of steps that will help us manage these emotions:
The first thing is to learn to feel and identify what we are feeling. Knowing what is happening to us, what we are feeling and, ultimately, accepting that something is happening to us.
Afterwards, it is important to validate and accept all those emotions. Its okay to feel anxious during pregnancy, the important thing is to accept it and work on it with patience and perseverance.
Lastly, it is very important to be able to freely express what one feels without being judged or, at least, without the fear that we are going to be judged just for saying.
