Throughout life, a woman's body undergoes changes associated with age-related changes - puberty, puberty, pregnancy, menopause, old age and old age. The physiological changes occurring during these periods inevitably affect both psychological and social aspects of life. In each of these periods, the ability to adapt to these changes is very important. If this ability is absent or impaired, a woman's well-being deteriorates, which, in turn, negatively affects all areas of life.
On the other hand, the exact opposite situation is possible, when a woman's full physical health creates situations at work or in the family, leading to excessive psycho-emotional stress, resulting in hormonal disruptions and various pathological changes in the female reproductive organs.
Regardless of what was the primary trigger, physical ailment or psycho-emotional tension, one aggravates the other. Thus, a vicious circle develops, to break which is sometimes very difficult. In such a situation, it is easy to get "on the hook" to an unscrupulous specialist who can endlessly treat hormonal drugs menstrual disorders, while it is necessary to work psychologist and neurologist. In addition, some patients are more willing to take pills than to make efforts to solve their psychological problems. Recognition by the gynecologist of problems related to psychological or social tension and timely referral to the appropriate specialist is an important part of the treatment of a number of gynecological diseases.
Puberty
During puberty, there are unusually profound changes in the body of girls and young women - the shape of the body changes, menstruation appears, there is a realization of herself as a woman - sexual identification. At the same time, sexual orientation, behavior and relationships are formed. There is a separation from the family and the formation of personality traits. At the same time, some adolescents remain dependent on parents and relatives for a long time, feeling their fear of the outside world. Others are early enough and easily make adult decisions. Some adolescents obey, and some, demonstrating rebellious behavior, protest against the rules created for them by parents or persons on whom they depend.
Lack of positive conflict resolution leads to strong feelings, low self-esteem, depression. Often the way out of the difficult situation is addiction to drugs or alcohol, suicidal attempts and promiscuous sexual relations. During this period menstrual disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies may occur. Respectful, involved attitude of parents to the problems of adolescents, to their worries, timely consultation with a gynecologist and psychologist will avoid many problems and disappointments.
Reproductive period
The transition to adulthood is associated with the inevitable meeting of the difficulties of adult life - working in a team with employees of different ages, different values, marriage, accompanied by partial or complete loss of personal freedom, childbirth and the inevitable estrangement of partners both emotionally and sexually. Overwork, an increased number of responsibilities, estrangement from the loved one, and sometimes a break with him can be accompanied by a feeling of inferiority, depression, the emergence of a number of gynecological diseases.
Diseases that arise as a result of the interaction of mental and physical factors are called psychosomatic. Gynecological diseases, which in some cases may be psychosomatic, include irregular, painful or heavy menstruation, chronic pain in the lower abdomen, not confirmed by objective studies, prementstrual syndrome, menopausal disorders. Infertility, on the other hand, is an example of how physical ailments can affect mental and personality changes.
Premenstrual syndrome
Premenstrual syndrome - a complex of changes in the body of a woman, occurring a few days before menstruation and characterized by psycho-emotional, vegetovascular and metabolic-endocrine disorders. This syndrome manifests itself in the form of irritability, aggressiveness, depression, muscle soreness, abdominal bloating, nausea, vomiting. In addition, there may be an increase in blood pressure, palpitations, trembling in the hands, inability to concentrate. Related to these changes are the monthly hormonal changes. It is noted that premenstrual syndrome is most intensely manifested in those women who have deep unresolved psychological or social problems. The danger lies in the fact that the woman, masquerading under, ostensibly, hormonal shifts, cultivates negative thoughts and uncontrolled emotions, going farther and farther away from solving complex personal psychological issues and resolving difficult situations.
Unresolved psychological conflicts are the result of dysfunctional relationships. According to Richard Niolon's definition, dysfunctional relationships are those in which "partners tacitly enter into an emotional 'contract' that prescribes voluntary mental and physical self-destruction in the name of maintaining a delicate balance and can affect entire teams. Dysfunctional relationships allow you to avoid feeling alone and help you avoid facing reality - "if you wait a little longer, everything will work itself out" - but they lead to dead ends and are destructive.
There are several models of dysfunctional relationships, one of them is Stephen Karpman's Drama Triangle model. According to his theory, in the presence of dysfunctional relationships, people manifest themselves in one of three roles - victim, accuser or rescuer. In this case, the rescuer is far from altruistic desire to help, he is guided by egoistic motives, for example, to demonstrate himself or to further increase the dependence of the rescued. The victim is in fact not always a helpless person, and the accuser does not always have a valid reason to accuse.
Women suffering from premenstrual psycho-emotional disorders take on the role of rescuer during Phase I of the menstrual cycle because they are full of energy at this time. As they approach the end of phase II of the cycle, they take the role of the weak victim, and on the eve of menstruation they take the role of the irritated accuser. The joint work of gynecologist, psychologist, neuroscientist, etc. should be aimed at helping the patient to look deeper into the essence of the problem, to teach skills of positive thinking, relaxation techniques, to help rebuild destructive relationships to creative.
Infertility
Rarely do couples suffering from infertility manage to maintain warmth and mutual support. More often than not, such couples experience deep psychological suffering. Women are especially susceptible to this. Their life becomes a series of hopes and disappointments. Having a child becomes a super goal, everything else becomes unimportant, spouses blame each other, feeling resentment or guilt. The more advanced infertility treatment technologies are introduced, the more difficult it is for these women to accept the impossibility of pregnancy.
Unfortunately, medicine is sometimes powerless, and it is important to help the woman distract her from what has become an obsession. The less chance a woman has of having a child, the more obsessed they become in their goal to have one at any cost. Ironically, more often than not, it is those women who initially did not want a child for whatever reason who will desperately pursue it later in life. Adopting a child in a situation where all resources have been exhausted will help resolve a huge number of unresolved internal and external conflicts. In reality, only a fraction of women give true love and care to an adopted child. Some couples, deciding to adopt, have a vague idea of parental feelings and decide to adopt for the sole purpose of establishing themselves in the eyes of others.
Menopause
The onset of menopause for some women coincides with a period when they feel relief - grown up children, the ability to pay more attention to themselves, a reassessment of values, the onset of mental balance. For others, however, this period marks the beginning of an ongoing nightmare - a decline in income, the feeling of being unwanted because of grown up and no longer needing to take care of children ("empty nest syndrome"), estrangement from a spouse or divorce, the need for financial assistance to children, aging and helpless parents. And all these problems are dumped on a woman who is at the age of menopause, when her health deteriorates sharply due to disturbed sleep, various ailments and a decrease in general tone and mood. In America, the generation of 45-55-year-olds is called the "sandwich generation". On the one hand, they feel pressure from grown-up teenage children, who need financial and other assistance, and on the other hand, aging, helpless parents demand attention and care. In such cases, hormone replacement therapy, alternative methods of treatment, psychological support and education will undoubtedly help to overcome the difficult period.
Old age. Old age
In old age, especially in old age, a woman experiences mobility limitations, decreased vision, hearing, restriction of social environment due to retirement, change of social role. Especially acute in this period is the problem of loneliness. It is women who most often suffer from loneliness because, as a rule, they outlive their life partners by several years. It should be noted that the absence of family is not always an absolute factor for the development of loneliness. Sometimes, elderly people who have lost their relatives are better adapted to life than some old people in families where they are deprived of necessary communication and, in fact, being in a family, are in isolation and experience it deeply.
On the background of painful experience of loneliness there is depression, which leads to aggravation of chronic diseases and development of Alzheimer's disease (disorders of memory, mood, consciousness). Of gynecological diseases at this age most often found tumors of the genital organs, including malignant. Modern scientists consider the period of aging and old age as a special stage of life with its own meaning, tasks and values. In Erik Erikson's concept, old age is associated with the resolution of the last eighth psychosocial crisis, which leads either to despair or to wisdom.
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The ability to resolve psychological and social
conflicts is directly related to the mental health of the patient.
The basic
elements of mental (mental, mental) health are:
ability to love and be loved
the ability to face changes without fear, overcoming fear rationally and with practical optimism
the ability to take risks without intrusive imagination of worst-case scenarios
effective contact with reality - not too much, not too little; to quote T.S. Eliot: "Mankind cannot bear the strain of too much reality".
a rich fantasy world that allows hope and creativity to flourish
the ability to admit when you're wrong and say so, thus gaining experience.
realization of one's natural abilities in society - realization at the call of the heart and soul.
Conclusions
The ability to adapt mentally and spiritually to age-related changes in the body is an important component of a woman's overall health. The task of the gynecologist is to make full use of the knowledge accumulated by modern science - medical, psychological, social. The patient's task is to comprehensively review the literature on healthy living, including the literature on mental health. The acquired knowledge and joint efforts of doctors and patients will help not only to preserve health, but also to feel the joy of life in all its fullness.