It is increasingly common to speak of psychological pregnancies, also known as pseudocyesis or false pregnancy; however, few people know its meaning. This is the name given to the disorder in women who experience symptoms such as the absence of menstruation, weight gain for no apparent reason, nausea, vomiting, changes in the mammary glands, and all those characteristics that are always related to a traditional pregnancy.
It is because of the above that, on numerous occasions, a woman prepares to expect a child, but in reality, this is not the case. Many people must consider that it is easy to rule out this event with a simple test, but: can the pregnancy test detect a psychological pregnancy? To learn more about this topic, we invite you to continue reading the following FastlyHealarticle.
Table of Contents
Psychological pregnancy and positive pregnancy test: is it possible?
Many women may have doubts if they are pregnant or not. Even with symptoms, it is not known precisely if a baby is expected or not. It is widespread to think that taking a pregnancy test would eliminate all doubts; However, this is incorrect since pregnancy tests can detect so-called psychological pregnancies.
To be more exact, pregnancy tests can give a positive result in the presence of psychological pregnancies due to the influence that the mind has on a woman’s hormones. In other words, the woman’s emotional state who thinks she is pregnant could cause the brain to release the hormones most characteristic of pregnancies and in average amounts for that state, so the test results are positive.
It is an imaginary pregnancy. It can happen in women of any age. However, they are more frequent in adolescents who begin to have an active sexual life and live in fear, and are obsessed with being able to get pregnant without looking for it.
How to detect a psychological pregnancy
Suppose you are a woman who encounters one or more of the most characteristic pregnancy symptoms, but you doubt that you are expecting a child. In that case, you may find yourself going through a psychological pregnancy. This is why you must go to your family doctor so that he can carry out the necessary controls to help confirm the pregnancy or rule it out.
The specialist may first do a physical exam, blood test, or simple ultrasound to see if there is a fetus inside the woman’s uterus. Suppose you are not expecting a child, and the patient is diagnosed with a psychological pregnancy. In that case, you should go to a psychologist so that the professional can carry out the corresponding treatment and get rid of the symptoms.
Possible causes of psychological pregnancy
Now that we know that the pregnancy test can detect a psychological pregnancy let’s see the causes of this unreal and imaginary pregnancy.
Psychological pregnancies usually appear due to various stimuli of the neuroendocrine system that are produced by psychological factors. Situations of stress, anxiety, or social and family pressure in an intense way can influence this aspect, causing a hormonal alteration and causing symptoms similar to natural pregnancy. Likewise, certain situations already identified could favor the development of psychological pregnancies. Among them, the following stand out:
- Have low self-esteem.
- He is feeling and being very lonely.
- He has the idea that the man will leave her for not being able to have a child.
- Social and family pressures to form a family.
- Suffer from chronic depression.
- Being afraid of getting pregnant
- We have suffered sexual abuse during childhood.
- They are suffering stress so great that it causes constant emotional imbalance.
- She was being close to menopause but wanted to have children.
- He is a woman who is more affected by criticism or unwanted events.
- To be sure of being pregnant, i the case of simulating a pregnancy, it is possible that the symptoms of natural pregnancy or psychological pregnancy do not appear.
This article is merely informative. At FastlyHeal .com, we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor if you present any condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Can the pregnancy test detect a psychological pregnancy? We recommend that you enter our Pregnancy and baby health category.
I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.