False pregnancy in women is a rather rare pathology. On average, it occurs in 1 case out of 3,500 common pregnancy conditions. Most often, it arises from a combination of three types of disorders: gynecological, endocrine and mental. The signs of a false pregnancy all coincide with the true one. There are cases when a woman even felt painful contractions, doctors did a cesarean section, because the fetus did not appear for a long time, and found that the uterus was empty.
At first, a false pregnancy in women is no different from the true one - menstruation stops, the stomach grows, the mammary glands enlarge and become painful, it can even appear colostrum, toxicosis, weakness, dizziness, and intolerance to odors are worrying. Moreover, if you do not recognize the disorder on time with the help of ultrasound, then at a later date the woman feels even the “stirring” of the child inside.
Doctors still cannot explain why such plausible symptoms of false pregnancy occur. Since the pituitary gland is responsible for the production of hormones in the body, false pregnancy is most often associated with hormonal imbalance. As a result of some kind of malfunction, stress, anxiety, obsessive state, the pituitary gland can start to produce too many hormones, which causes the sensation that a normal pregnancy has come.
And the confidence in what is happening and the personal power of conviction make the symptoms even more believable, that is, the body begins to confirm that the woman was not mistaken. Even things such as confirming a pregnancy test, softening the cervix, changing the color and size of the vagina, which is true pregnancy, are happening.
A false pregnancy in women is reliably determined only with the help of ultrasound, even examination on a chair will not give an exact answer. Of course, a woman is very difficult to experience such disappointment, so she is often advised to seek help from an endocrinologist, psychologist or even a psychiatrist if the case of the disorder is really serious.
Most often, a false pregnancy occurs in women who are emotional, sensitive, prone to neurosis, easily suggestible, depressive. When the misconception about pregnancy becomes clear, a woman's condition can worsen greatly until an attempt is made to suicide. Therefore, the forces of doctors should be directed not only to the treatment of gynecological symptoms, but also to help eliminate emotional problems and mental disorders.
What categories of women are at risk?
- Women of "Balzac age" who are treated for infertility and are trying to get pregnant. They are so accustomed to the obsessive way of pregnancy that the body plays a cruel joke with them.
- Emotionally tense women who are too sensitive to the "children's" topic. For example, if a pregnant girlfriend appears in the environment of such a woman, then she, too, can feel herself in the demolition, just watching the development of a real pregnancy.
- Women who have received emotional trauma due to the loss of a child or a miscarriage. False pregnancy becomes a salvation for them, a way to recover the loss. It is this type of woman who is most prone to suicide after identifying the falsity of her condition.
There are times when men begin to feel pregnant with their wives. This is due to the special sensitivity and emotionality of men 20-30 years old, in whose families the first-born is expected.
They are so worried about their wife’s condition that they involuntarily begin to “copy” all the symptoms of pregnancy, experiencing nausea, vomiting, pain in the intestines and back, insomnia, severe stress. It’s impossible to do without the help of doctors: you need to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, and undergo a mandatory examination by a surgeon: suddenly these are signs of inflammation of the appendicitis or other problems of the gastrointestinal tract.
If nevertheless it turned out that the disorder is of a neuropsychic nature, then such men are not recommended for joint births, because their behavior cannot be predicted. It may happen that at this important moment it will be necessary to help the man, and not his wife.