The relationship between stress and fertility is a complex and fascinating topic. Hypnotherapy for anxiety might be one way to help. My PhD explored psychological aspects of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which fertility problems are relatively common. I have researched and developed a Stress Management programme specifically for PCOS (Barry et al, 2017), which significantly reduced anxiety, depression, and stress hormones.

Depression is relatively common in PCOS. Christmas can often feel like a time when we should be happy, so any sources of unhappiness – such as the troubling symptoms of PCOS - can seem especially hurtful at this time of year. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, but you don’t have to be a psychologist to realise that this time of year can have stressful for people with medical conditions, or other stressful things to deal with. For women with PCOS, some typical Christmas stressors are:

The word ‘hypnos’ is the name of the Greek god of sleep. This in itself would suggest that hypnotherapy will help with sleep problems, and indeed there is research evidence for this (see meta-analysis by Lam et al, 2015). Although people under hypnosis are not literally asleep it is a relatively fast, safe and effective way to improve insomnia. Another benefit is that hypnotherapy helps without the use of medications, which is a especially useful to people who would otherwise take medications that can be addictive or have unpleasant side effects.

“In PCOS, obesity typically starts in adolescence and weight loss can be difficult. Bazarganipour et al. (2013) assessed 300 adult women with PCOS in Iran and found that higher BMI was associated with poorer body satisfaction.

There are many stress management programmes in London, but only one has been developed especially for PCOS.

Taking an evidence-based approach, Dr Barry (UCL’s Division of Psychology and Language Sciences), explores the ways in which PCOS causes anxiety and depression, impacts quality of life, and is associated with other psychological phenomena.