Hysterectomy

Hysterectomy

A hysterectomy is a serious but sometimes necessary event in a woman's life. Whether due to a persistent, painful but otherwise benign condition like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), or something as serious as cancer, a partial or full hysterectomy affects not only a woman's ability to bear children, but can induce premature menopause and often triggers severe depression as well.

There are two primary types of hysterectomy. A full, or radical hysterectomy involves removal of the uterus, ovaries, and sometime the cervix. A radical hysterectomy will induce premature menopause, and hormone replacement therapy is ordered for younger women.

While loss of the ovaries, and their hormone production has serious side-effects, it is sometimes the best treatment for aggressive forms of cancer, where the likelihood of spreading throughout the reproductive tract is considered too high to risk.

Partial hysterectomy generally involves removal of the uterus alone. Partial hysterectomy is preferred, in any case where the disorder being treated has not spread to the rest of the reproductive tract, and is not considered aggressive enough to warrant preventative removal. There aren't as many medical complications, because the normal hormonal system is far less severely affected.

Hysterectomy Induced Clinical Depression

The emotional after-effects of either procedure are very similar. In many cases, even among women who never wanted children, and those who are finished childbearing, the loss of the ability to have children has a dramatic impact on a woman's self-image. While individual women vary greatly from one to the next, society's image of "what a woman should be" is so deeply entwined with ideas of motherhood, it's hard for any woman to disregard such ideas in regard to herself.

For the same reasons, women who do not want children more often choose the hassle of birth control over surgical sterilisation. By choosing the temporary and reversible "sterility" of birth control, they retain a "what if" chance of childbirth, whether they want children or not. After a hysterectomy, that "what if" is taken away forever. Many women report feeling as though they have become less than fully female. They face many of the same emotional battles as women discovering they are infertile for other reasons.

Sadly, some women's sense of loss is made worse by those close to them. Rather than providing needed support and understanding during a difficult time, spouses, friends and even family members sometimes withdraw from the hysterectomy patient. Some spouses, perhaps seeing their own hopes of children disappear, or perhaps suffering society's limited belief of "what a woman should be," see their partner as "less" than she was before surgery. Friends and family may withdraw because they don't know what to say or do to help, or because the patient reminds them that they too may one day be in the same place.

While the reactions of everyone involved in the situation may be understandable. If you or a loved one is facing a hysterectomy, the best thing you can do is educate yourself about it as thoroughly as possible, and be prepared for the possible emotional impacts for everyone. If depression becomes a problem for anyone after surgery, professional counseling is definitely in order. A hysterectomy is a serious issue for anyone to deal with, and complicating it with depression only makes proper care more important.

Hysterectomy Links

UK Department of Health

NHS Hysterectomy Advice