Mental Health: Psychological pregnancy: how the brain and body react to the disorder

Pseudocyesis, popularly known as psychological pregnancy, is a disorder that occurs when a woman is sure she is pregnant, even with medical tests showing the opposite.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), it is estimated that every 22 thousand pregnancies in the world, at least one is psychological.

Psychiatrist Danielle H. Admoni explains that, generally, women affected by pseudocyesis have a history of psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Women who have experienced trauma such as the loss of a child, sexual abuse, a history of miscarriage, and pressure from their partner or family members to get pregnant can also develop the disorder, as can those who have difficulty getting pregnant or are infertile.

“It is worth remembering that psychological pregnancy is not an invention of the woman, as she really believes she is pregnant. Often, pseudocyesis is the escape valve that the brain found to deal with psychological adversities. Therefore, judgments will only exacerbate the disorder The family must provide support, comfort and accompany the psychological treatment, even to better understand the condition and know how to deal with the condition”, emphasizes Admoni.

In some way still unexplained by science, the brain reacts to stimuli caused by changes in emotional state, deregulating hormone production. Endocrine, cortical, and hypothalamic functions work together in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, resulting in the symptoms of a real pregnancy.

Patients stop menstruating, experience nausea and morning sickness, have food cravings, drowsiness, experience breast growth and pain, increased appetite, breast milk production (caused by increased prolactin hormone), and abdominal distention (about 60 to 90% of patients with pseudocyesis can show belly growth).

Some women even feel the baby’s movements, the pains and contractions of childbirth. And even without the birth, they insist that the child will appear at some point, and can wait for an indefinite time.

Gynecologist and obstetrician Carlos Moraes explains that this disorder is classified as a somatoform disorder, that is, when the physical symptoms do not have a questionable medical basis.

“Even with the negative results, many women are not convinced that the pregnancy is not real. In these cases, it is up to the gynecologist to indicate a psychological treatment to identify the origin of the disorder and treat the cause. It may also be necessary to intervene with hormonal drugs to regulate menstruation and stop milk production”, she says.

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