Psychological viewpoints in counseling on contraceptives
Katilolehti 86(3): 106 110-11 Concl
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-9415 PMID: 6909375 Document Number: 425334
Some psychological studies have shown that many women cannot accept hormonal oral contraceptives because of their very effectiveness. These women feel uneasy or depressed in being what they consider independent from their bodies' fertilization function. Often they experience fear in realizing that they have so much power to choose or reject giving new life. Changing to other forms of contraception, however, often only brings new fears and/or disturbances. Those involved with counseling women on prevention choices are urged to be aware that many women who express desiring total reliability from a particular method may still experience unvoiced or even subconscious wishes to become pregnant. This explains why so many women "forget" to take their oral contraceptives, or simply stop taking them, claiming a fear of side effects. There are also intrapersonal and broader psychosocial factors also at work. The opportunities and challenges of women's emancipation, for example, make many women feel that they must become "independent" in making life choices. This, in combination with the high reliability of such contraceptives, also makes it possible to more easily separate the concept of sexual enjoyment from lifelong commitment to/dependence on an economic provider (1 man). No longer is she forced to marry because of the arrival of a child. But for many women, this new freedom is experienced more as a cause of anxiety, not something liberating. That a woman is now free to choose when and how often to create life puts greater pressure on becoming an "ideal mother." The old possibility of easily becoming pregnant allowed many to feel deeply about their bodies, their femininity. With oral contraceptives or sterilization, they now feel they have detached themselves from nature's laws, and become more insecure in their identity. With the greatly reduced likelihood of accidental pregnancy, many women also complain of the sex act becoming much less exciting, so that they report a generalized lower interest in sex. For women who have definitely decided against having children, it is usually possible to redirect psychological energy into new activities or interests. But for a minority, they find it extremely difficult or impossible to execute this redirection, especially if they have jobs which lack opportunity to provide self development and self expression. The above factors explain why recent studies by Uddenberg and Lagercrantz show that up to 50 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned. This is not because a particular contraceptive has failed or that the women has been inadequately instructed on its use. In conclusion, the author reminds birth control counselors in this field to take psychological and sociological factors into account in helping their clients to make the right decisions regarding their own lives, to look beyond the 1st words spoken and to attempt to gain a realistic understanding of inner feelings and experiences through active listening.