Stress is your body's physical reaction to change. Stress can result from both negative and positive changes.

Stress can also be a cause of infertility. Preliminary studies have found that high levels of stress can help cause irregular ovulation, fallopian tubal spasm, and hormonal changes. The causes of infertility are mainly physical. But, remember, stress is the body's physical reaction to change.

Stress and infertility feed on each other in a viscous cycle. If you are experiencing fertility problems---you will be stressed---the stress leads to physical problems that cause infertility---which causes more stress---which leads to more infertility---and so on and so on.

Therefore, when treating infertility, stress must also be addressed.

The first thing to recognize is that stress is a constant part of our lives. Stress is here to stay. Our environment and the people we interact with are constantly changing. Our world is constantly changing, and these changes are coming faster and faster. There is nowhere to hide from change. Unless you plan on moving to a Buddhist monastery in the mountains, stress is going to be a part of your life. This means that we should try to manage our stress rather than eliminate it.

Managing Stress

To some degree, stress is "hard wired" into all of us. We all have the biological impulse of "fight or flight." When our mind senses danger, it releases adrenaline and other chemicals into the body to prepare itself to fight or to run away. This causes an increase in your heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure. This tenseness has an effect on the human body and oftentimes it results in distress. Negative stress, or distress can cause serious health problems.

There are many ways to cope with stress, but the most effective way is to simply try and avoid stress. This means recognizing your stress warning signs and implementing a preventive strategy. These "signal" will be different for all of us, but some common ones are: sweaty palms, racing heart, back or neck pain, and headaches.

Step one is to recognize your symptoms before you begin escalating your thoughts and physical response into the realm of panic attack. Next, you need to begin proper breathing techniques. Finally, you need to recognize the cause of your anxiety and choose to deal with it. This allows you to gain control over the anxiety causing issue. When the mind realizes it has control again, it will begin to unwind the tenseness and remove the stress causing chemicals.

Yesterday afternoon, I was running late for a meeting. As I was sitting in traffic, I could feel myself becoming stressed. My hands were sweaty, my heart was racing, and I was becoming very agitated. I immediately stopped thinking about everything and focused only on my breathing. I then realized that being late was the cause of my distress. I thought to myself… If I am late, what is the worst thing that will happen? My answer was- nothing. I thought to myself, "is worrying going to help me get there any faster"? My answer- NO. At that moment, I gained control over my emotions, and I immediately felt myself calming down. A few minutes later, I actually felt great.

Remember, Stress affects you physically. When battling infertility you must strive to keep your physical body in the best condition as possible. This means managing your stress.